CDM

Connaissance du Monde

magazine

23

nº

the final project

MARY QUANT

year of death

Today on

Connaissance du monde magazine:

To what extent can mary quant be seen as an activist who empowered women throughout the years

Title 1

How did British fashion designers help women express themselves throughout the years ? How did fashion evolve throughout the 80’s and the 90’s in the UK? To what extent can British fashion designers be seen as activists empowering women throughout the years? mary quant/ vivienne westwood/ alexander mcqueen/ lucy christina duff gordon

Previously on Connaissance du monde magazine:

thema 2 Living in the world / c) Cultural and linguistic diversity To what extent is the inclusion of others' linguistic differences present in the UK ? 3. Building a common future c) Innovate, create, evolve Why is fashion important to let women express themselves ?

Swinging Sixties fashion

“was one of the most internationally recognised fashion designers of the 20th century and an out standing innovator of the Swinging Sixties”

pop culture

the term swinging as hip / fashionable

used since the early 1960s

- Her family

in 1962

-> she designed a striped cotton twill dress inspired by bankers' suits -> amusing design at a time when English women -> not yet allowed to open a bank account without male consent

________________________

But why do these diminutive garments hold such nostalgia for a generation of women?

The Miniskirt :

was the centre of the social revolution (swinging sixties)

first appearance in 1962 in Bazaar Boutique

Once seen as:. provocative & rebellious

forge their own identity.

empowering young women to express themselves

symbolised: a growing female independence

miniskirts

symbol of women’s liberation

changing times.

women broke away from traditional gender rules)

For the first time ever “At 17 they no longer looked 40”.

- V&A museum - lottievjackson.com

Reaction in Paris:

The miniskirt was seen as a distraction that would prevent the youth from “[achieving] a social revolution”. Miss A. Belskaya viewed the miniskirt as a capitalist attack on socialism, stating that Quant has “been well rewarded by big business for her ideological attack”.

- The Gale Review

Reaction in Russia

In 1966, Helen Lazareff argued that French men were far fonder of women than English men and did not “want them to go to such extremes” to attract their attention, revealing the contemporary assumption that young women embraced the miniskirt to attract a man, believing that the racier the garment, the more desirable a man they would get.

- The Gale Review

Title 1

photography:V&A Museum

Quant helped : -> London capital of street-style / creativity / innovation -> communicating new attitudes / ideas / change for women. Quant & two business partners : -> the future dominance of visual branding & marketing. Mary Quant's logo -> highly recognizable -> what better than a flower?

goldsmiths university of London

Unisex "MOD" scandalous feminist

__________________

a youth-driven subculture

in 1962

"Mary Quant gives you the bare essentials" ohsodelightful.com

conservative fashions of the 1950s

-> she designed a striped cotton twill dress inspired by bankers' suits -> amusing design at a time when English women -> not yet allowed to open a bank account without male consent

avant-garde clothing

daring

significant effect on Quant’s early designs

The “Mod”

“young were tired of wearing essentially the same as their mothers,” - Quant . -> shorten length of her skirts.

Young people had an immediate liking to her designs

unisex and androgynous pieces

vivid colours, short hemlines, and geometric patterns

+https://www.ohsodelightful.com/the-fashion-revolutionist-the -life-and-legacy-of-mary-quant/

AAR

BAZ

first appearance in 1962 in Bazaar Boutique

forge their own identity.

empowering young women to express themselves

miniskirts

symbol of women’s liberation

changing times.

For the first time ever “At 17 they no longer looked 40”.