An exhibition looking back at the work and life of Dame Mary Quant is set to open in Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum this weekend.
Mary Quant: Fashion Revolutionary is the final chance to see the international display, which features over 100 garments, accessories, cosmetics, and photographs drawn from the V&A's collections, Dame Mary Quant’s archive and other private collections.
The exhibition is a major retrospective of Mary Quant, who died last month at the age of 93.
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 playful designs for a younger generation.
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Heather Tilbury Phillips, who was a Director of Mary Quant Limited and Advisor to the V&A on the exhibition, was joined by the curator of the exhibition for the V&A, Jenny Lister, at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum to see final preparations being made ahead of the exhibition opening this weekend.
Speaking to Glasgow Live about the creation of the exhibition, Heather said: "I first met Jenny eight or nine years ago, and obviously at that point I had no idea that it would explode to these dimensions. I had the idea that we might produce a book, but within a short time, I said 'it has to be an exhibition'."
Heather first worked with Mary in 1967 but became a permanent member of her team in 1970, continuing to work with her as director and advisor for over a decade.
When asked the key behind the enduring appeal of Mary Quant's fashion designs, Heather put it down to "an element of realism combined with terrific creativity and inspiration".
She continued: "She designed garments that she wanted to wear, that suited her lifestyle, which meant that she could run, jump, leap on a bus, go to work, go dancing in the evening.
"The garments worked for a lifestyle. And she wanted colour and vibrancy and neither she nor her friends wanted to look as their mothers.
"One of the things I so enjoyed in London was just standing and listening to what people were saying as they were going round the exhibition. Somebody would say 'I remember wearing that, and I met my husband, or went to a party' and then somebody of 18 would say 'I want to wear that now'. It's because of the styling and the look and the confidence that those garments inspires in people. It was fashion for everyone."
Following the death of Mary Quant on April 13 this year, the exhibition has developed a new significance as a celebration of her life and legacy.
Heather said: "It's something that I hoped and have found that the exhibition has opened up the scope of Mary's legacy to people who had no idea. The new generations that are coming forward that hadn't appreciated just how diverse Mary's talent was.
"I'm just so grateful to the V&A that we did it all when we did because now, this is truly a celebration of her life."
She continued: “I know how delighted Mary would have been that the exhibition is here at this wonderful venue in Glasgow. We very much enjoyed several highly successful and inspirational trips to Scotland together visiting fabric and knitwear producers and leading retailers. Harris Tweed, Paisley designs, plaids, definitive checks and tartans in Viyella often featured strongly in her collections and the vibrant fashion shows and cosmetic launches were always such fun, stimulating many happy memories.”
Famous for popularising super high hem lines, the exhibition explores the story of the miniskirt, dressmaking patterns, make-up, and accessories that all showcased the iconic daisy logo.
Among over 100 objects, visitors can see the pioneering ‘Wet Collection’ PVC rainwear that featured on an iconic edition of Vogue, a collection of Daisy dolls created in Scotland by Lanarkshire based Model Toys, and the dress she wore when receiving her OBE in 1966 and the innovative jersey dress.
Jenny Lister, co-curator of Mary Quant at the V&A, has orchestrated the exhibition travels around the world, from the London and Dundee V&A museums to many corners of the globe, including Australia, Taiwan and Japan.
The plans for the exhibition was hindered by coronavirus, with Jenny saying she was delighted that it had been able to visits multiple museums, with more than one million people having visited the showcase so far.
She told Glasgow Live: "It's been literally around the world - from the V&A in London, it went to Dundee's V&A, then to Australia, then New Zealand, then to Taiwan, to Tokyo in Japan, then from Tokyo it came here.
"It's really lovely we've got another UK venue so we can tell the story again. The tour has built awareness of the Mary Quant story and it's a chance for us to share it again.
"It went through the whole covid period as well which meant in Dundee it closed twice so it's another chance for people in Scotland to come and see. We had set it up for the tour but we were lucky it got through the period of real uncertainty and we learnt as we went how to work differently.
"Over one million people have visited it."
Jenny added that she believed the success of the exhibition was as much to do with the public contribution as the story of Mary Quant.
The exhibition features stories of women who responded to the V&A’s #WeWantQuant campaign, a public call-out to locate rare garments by Quant and collect personal stories, memories and photographs from real people who wore her clothes, including several Scottish contributors.
The themes of dressmaking, marketing and fashion across the decades are explored in detail and provide the focus for an innovative public programme of demonstrations, workshops and talks alongside the exhibition at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
Jenny said: "I don't think it's just because it's a story about Mary Quant and her career, it's also a much broader shift that happened in fashion that made it more widely available. It stopped being about just Paris, and Dior as the dictators of style, because Mary turned that on its head and it became about being yourself and using fashion as a way of expressing your identity and who you wanted to be.
"There were other nucleuses of collections we had to build together to make the exhibition and the thing that really made it take off was a campaign we did on social media called We Want Quant which was a call for people to send in photographs of themselves wearing Mary Quant.
"So we also got physical dresses and makeup sent to us and it showed how people had treasured some of these things. It took it from a London-specific story into something much broader. It brought something completely new to the exhibition."
Rebecca Quinton Curator of Dress at Glasgow Life Museums, added: “Dame Mary Quant’s contribution to British fashion was truly trailblazing and marked a radical change in the way clothing was designed and marketed both in the United Kingdom and internationally. It’s fantastic to be the culminating host of the exhibition tour and to share Quant’s amazing vision with our visitors.”
Bailie Annette Christie, Chair of Glasgow Life, said: “Mary Quant was a ground-breaking designer, whose energy, work ethic and can-do attitude changed the face of fashion in Britain at a time when society was rapidly changing for women. Her accessible, affordable designer fashion changed the way people looked at the world and empowered an entire generation to look good and feel great.
“The V&A has curated an exhibition that demonstrates Mary Quant’s influence, which has equal appeal to those who wore her clothes and to an entirely new generation who are discovering her for the first time. Glasgow Life Museums are very pleased to host the final outing of this wonderful exhibition.”
Mary Quant: Fashion Revolutionary opens on Saturday 20 May and runs until 22 October 2023, tickets are £8.50, concession £6.50, children under 12 are free. The exhibition is organised by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
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