V&A Announces Mary Quant Exhibition With Call-Out To Uncover Lost Designs

The V&A is curating the first international retrospective of Mary Quant in almost 50 years. Slated for release in April 2019, the exhibition will explore the years between 1955 and 1975, when the Welsh designer and fashion icon injected life into the British high street through her subversive, graphic designs that embraced different forms of femininity and freed women from rules and regulations.

Mary Quant will bring together over 200 objects, the majority of which have never been on public display, and delve into the details of how Quant, who was awarded an OBE in 1966, democratised fashion and inspired a young generation.

“It was a wonderfully exciting time and despite the frenetic, hard work we had enormous fun,” Dame Mary Quant commented on her forward-thinking designs that were popularised by Jean Shrimpton, Pattie Boyd, Cilla Black and Twiggy. “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!”

The garments and accessories, archive sketches, patterns, cosmetics, magazines, photographs, film and catwalk footage have been drawn from the V&A’s largest collection of Mary Quant garments in the world, the unprecedented access the museum was given to the designer’s personal archive, and loans that it will acquire from a public call-out. Pieces that the museum is looking for include rare and early one-off designs sold between 1955 and 1960 in Quant’s renowned Bazaar boutiques, dresses and blouses from 1964 and 1965 with Peter Pan collars, garments made using Mary Quant Butterick patterns, which launched in 1964, and made it possible for home dressmakers to make Quant’s designs, plus Mary Quant knitwear, swimwear and accessories.

“We want to hear from women who wore Mary’s radical designs and experienced the appeal of the Mary Quant brand at first-hand,” Jenny Lister, curator of Mary Quant, said in a statement. “To help us tell these incredible stories, we are asking people to check attics, cupboards, as well as family photo albums, for the chance to feature in our exhibition.”

Tickets for the exhibition, which will run from April 6 2019 to March 8 2020, will go on sale in autumn 2018. But, for now, the #WeWantQuant search is on. Email maryquant@vam.ac.uk, or use the social media hashtag to share personal pieces that have made British street style the global influence it is today.