“She changed fashion,” says Adrienne, who names Quant among the likes of Dior, Chanel and McQueen. It’s even reflected in her current designs, featuring cheeky Mondrian prints and graphic block colours. When she first started out, she styled her business on Bazaar, and in the 40 years since, Quant’s style has featured in her thinking. Likewise, designer Adrienne Winkelmann considers Quant one of her greatest influences. “We always say, if we aren’t wearing it, our customer won’t either,” say the pair, echoing Quant’s desire to dress herself and her friends. Their spring/summer collection even features an embroidered daisy print throughout, a nod to Quant’s floral emblem. Like Quant, who popularised coloured tights and bold hues, the linen label by Alice Isles and Kiki Judd prides itself on using interesting colours and being fun to wear. Anyone doubting whether the British designer’s style is still relevant, need look no further than Hej Hej. Kate’s not the only local designer hugely influenced by Quant. Though she soon evolved away from that, resonating more today with Quant’s spirit of fun, her vibrant colours and graphic prints reflect the Quant of the swinging 60s.Īdrienne Winkelmann designs hark back to the Quant era. In the early days, Kate herself wore her own vinyl miniskirt designs and shift dresses, a similar aesthetic to those that epitomised Mary Quant’s look. “It was a very organic, low-fi way to start a business,” she says. Inspired, Kate and her partner, Wayne Conway, did much the same, setting up a shop front from their live-in Kitchener St warehouse. Instead, you could come up with an idea, sew some clothes and sell them yourself, as Quant did in her now-iconic Chelsea boutique, Bazaar. Unlike the lofty Parisian couturiers of the 50s, Quant demystified fashion, impressing on the budding designer that clothing could be practical, not something to get too serious about. “I read it and reread it, over and over.” “It became my bible, my guidebook on how to be a fashion designer,” she says. When Kate Sylvester was 14, she went to a book fair and stumbled upon an autobiography by a woman named Mary Quant.
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