Mary Quant, a major influential designer of the 1960s, has peacefully passed away on Thursday, April 13, at age 93 in her Surrey, U.K. home. 

In 1955, Quant opened a shop called Bazaar in London’s Chelsea area where she sold clothing. She was also a poster girl for the London’s Youthquake cultural movement in the 1960s. She was seen wearing miniskirts, which she also designed, and eventually helped make it one of the most popular clothing pieces of the 20th century. Her designs were comfortable, colorful and simple. Additionally, her clothes were affordable enough for the working class women, and “the young were essentially tired of wearing the same as their mothers,” a quote from her bestselling 1966 autobiography “Quant” by Quant. That same year she was awarded an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) award, which is one of the highest honors that someone can achieve in the Commonwealth. She made a huge contribution to British exports. 

Ms. Quant wrote in her autobiography, “We were at the beginning of a tremendous renaissance in fashion…It was not happening because of us. It was simply that, as things turned out, we were a part of it.”