Mary Quant: Fashion Revolutionary enters final weeks at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

More than 35,000 people have been inspired to visit Mary Quant: Fashion Revolutionary, confirmed Glasgow Life, the charity who delivers culture and sport in the city. Thousands more are expected to go in the closing weeks.

A popular retrospective on the work of Dame Mary Quant, currently delighting visitors to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, will close on Sunday 22 October.

More than 35,000 people have been inspired to visit Mary Quant: Fashion Revolutionary, confirmed Glasgow Life, the charity who delivers culture and sport in the city. Thousands more are expected to go in the closing weeks.

With a little over two weeks left to see Mary Quant: Fashion Revolutionary aficionados are being encouraged to take advantage of the final chance to see the uplifting show, before the international tour comes to an end later this month.

The exhibition features over 100 garments, accessories, cosmetics, and photographs drawn from the V&A’s extensive collections, Dame Mary Quant’s archive and many private collections.

Many visitors have discovered the ground-breaking designer, whose energy, work ethic and can-do attitude changed the face of fashion in Britain, for the first-time. While others relished the opportunity to reminisce about their experience of the ‘Swinging Sixties’, when Quant revolutionised the high street with subversive and playful designs for a younger generation.

Seventy-five undergraduates studying an HND in Fashion Design and Manufacture at Glasgow Clyde College, Cardonald Campus were joined by Learning and Access Curator for Glasgow Life Museums, Jen Keenan at Kelvingrove Museum. High on the agenda was inspiration for the course ahead and a unique opportunity to get to know their fellow students, while sharing a ‘last chance to see the show’ message before the exhibition closes on Sunday 22 October.

Bailie Annette Christie, Chair of Glasgow Life, said: 

"Dame Mary Quant’s contribution to British fashion was trailblazing and, as you would expect, the response to the show has been truly heartening. Visitors have shared their joy on reliving wonderful, sometimes forgotten, memories, often with younger members of their family who weren’t around at the time. The V&A’s exhibition has also introduced an entirely new generation to Mary Quant’s incredible influence and legacy. With a little over two weeks until this wonderful exhibition closes, there’s still time to marvel at the style on show or treat yourself to another visit."

Lecturer at Glasgow Clyde College, Anne Wilson, added:

"Mary Quant’s affordable designer fashion was instrumental in changing how people looked at the world. It allowed an entire generation to look good and feel great. Our students are taking inspiration from her enduring legacy as they strut their stuff on the catwalk of their own fashion journey."

Heather Tilbury Phillips, former Director of Mary Quant Limited and Advisor to the V&A on the exhibition, said:

"What is impressive is that so many of today’s teenagers and young people have been overheard saying how much they would love to wear the clothes now! They seemed to us to be ground-breaking, even outrageous at the time, but they still have an enduring and contemporary appeal. Well over a million visitors worldwide have already enjoyed Dame Mary Quant’s contribution to those memorable years of 1955 – 1975 and the colourful exhibition is such fun and a fitting tribute to her revolutionary life."

Jenny Lister, Curator, Fashion and Textiles, V&A added:

"It’s been great to see the appetite for the Mary Quant exhibition in Glasgow, and to hear that visitors have enjoyed looking back at Mary’s ground-breaking designs. Mary Quant was always looking ahead to the next thing – and this special opportunity, in the final weeks for the show, to spark the creativity and imagination of the fashion students from Glasgow Clyde College shows how her impact will carry on, inspiring designers of the future."

Sections of the exhibition look at the shift from couture to mass market designer fashion with the launch of the Ginger Group; how she moved fashion forward by going back and embracing the textile industry at the very heart of British manufacturing; the way Mary Quant ‘borrowed from the boys’ and manipulated menswear to challenge the conventional gender stereotypes of the day.

Famous for popularising super high hem lines, the exhibition goes on to explore 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.

Mary Quant: Fashion Revolutionary closes on 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.