MARY QUANT

MARY QUANT: Fashion Revolutionary: Exhibition

previewed by Liz Dutton and Catherine Smith

Exhibition tickets: Book online

Tickets are valid for entry at any time on the date booked. Adults £8.50 plus booking fee, Concession £6.50 plus booking fee, Under 12s FREE. Tickets also available on the door.

Buy tickets here

Tickets for groups

For bookings of 12 people or more, please contact us using the email address below.

GlasgowMuseumsHire@Glasgowlife.org.uk

This international exhibition from the V&A focuses on the years from 1955, when Mary Quant opened her experimental boutique Bazaar on the King’s Road, Chelsea, through the ‘Swinging Sixties’ when Mary Quant was awarded her OBE, to 1975.

photo 1

Mary Quant and Vidal Sassoon, 1964. © Ronald Dumont/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Exhibition Now on until 22 October 2023

 Quant revolutionised the high street with her subversive and playful designs for a younger generation

The V&A’s major retrospective of Dame Mary Quant, one of Britain’s most iconic and celebrated fashion designers, is now on at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum until 22 October 2023, after returning from international tour. This is the final chance to see the exhibition, which features over 100 garments, accessories, cosmetics and photographs drawn from the V&A’s extensive collections, Dame Mary Quant’s archive and, following a public appeal, many private collections.

Focusing on the years from 1955, when Quant opened her experimental boutique Bazaar on the King’s Road, Chelsea, through the ‘Swinging Sixties’ when Mary Quant was awarded her OBE, to 1975, it showcases the period when Quant revolutionised the high street with her subversive and playful designs for a younger generation. From Quant’s early years when the self-taught designer created garments overnight, to her designs being sold internationally, the exhibition reveals the real stories behind the myths and shows how Quant democratised fashion and empowered women through her determination, ingenuity and unique personal style, which she exported around the world.

Displays explore the evolution of the miniskirt, her novel use of modern materials such as PVC, and how her Ginger Group wholesale label was sold internationally from Glasgow’s House of Fraser to department stores in San Francisco and Sydney. Alongside miniskirts, hot pants and tights, accessories, including Quant Afoot shoes, and make-up, iconic photographs will celebrate the marketing campaigns that helped promote Mary Quant’s photogenic looks and youthful brand.

Dame Mary Quant received the Companion of Honour Award in HM King Charles III’s first New Years Honours List.

Jenny Lister, co-curator of Mary Quant at the V&A, said: ‘Mary Quant transformed the fashion system, overturning the dominance of luxury couture from Paris. She dressed liberated women, freed from rules and regulations, and from dressing like their mothers.’

Dame Mary Quant said: ‘It was a wonderfully exciting time and despite the frenetic, hard work we had enormous fun. We didn’t necessarily realise that what we were creating was pioneering, we were simply too busy relishing all the opportunities and embracing the results before rushing on to the next challenge!’

An exhibition organised by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, until 22 October 2023

Tickets: Adults £8.50, Concession £6.50, Under 12s FREE

For groups of 12 people or more, please email us

Make your own Mary Quant style clothes!

Love the Quant style?

Why not make your own 1960s-style minidress or Georgie dress? The free, downloadable sewing patterns are available on the V&A website, inspired by Mary Quant’s classic A-line mini – the look that defined a generation. 

Mary Quant style minidress pattern

Mary Quant style Georgie dress pattern

Talks and Events