The miniskirt turns 60 as a fashion classic

Various designers have claimed to have created the piece that was first displayed on a catwalk on July 10, 1964.

At 60 years old, the miniskirt is a fashion classic that keeps getting updated. Designer Mary Quant first showed it on the catwalk on July 10, 1964, and those who considered it a scandalous creation with a short-lived future were wrong.

The miniskirt is more alive than ever, as demonstrated by the latest collections from Miu Miu, Gucci, Prada, Loewe and Stella McCartney, and even a classic like Chanel has long since succumbed to its influence.

Mary Quant always took credit for it and said that it was the girls from King’s Road – the street where she opened her store, Bazaar – who invented the mini.

“I was making clothes that you might run and dance in. We made them the length the client wanted,” the designer said in an interview in 1967.

Although Quant is always credited with the garment, the truth is that the designer André Courrèges fought to be recognized as its author.

Photo: Freepik

At that time of creative effervescence, when the music of the Beatles or the Rolling Stones marked the way towards different sounds, women sought to free themselves through their clothing.

The miniskirt: a piece present in various collections

Spanish designer Teresa Helbig is passionate regarding the miniskirt, a cut that is never missing from her collections.

“I love it, it’s a symbol of youth, strength, determination,” she told the EFE news agency, although she admits that fashion is cyclical and there are times when it is more popular than others.

With her rebellious attitude, British actress and singer Twiggy created the perfect icon of the 1960s generation, her way of dressing and wearing makeup.

But she was not the only one. Beauty and sensuality legends, with an image at the polar opposite of the British model, such as the American Raquel Welch or the French Brigitte Bardot, were excellent defenders of the new proposal, which was also supported by others such as Françoise Hardy or Jane Fonda.

Tina Turner never gave up this garment, which she used to show off her legs on and off stage, always on generous heels. In an underground style, Madonna combined them with embroidered stockings in the 1980s.

The miniskirt turns 60 as a fashion classic — Tina Turner. Photo courtesy

“Wearing a miniskirt today means diversity,” says Helbig. “Every woman should wear a miniskirt whenever she feels like it. I think that when a woman wears a miniskirt, she feels very comfortable in her own skin,” she says, showing one of her latest, extremely mini bridal designs.

Weddings, also with miniskirts

An option that actress Sharon Tate did not hesitate to use in 1967, when she married Roman Polanski. Two years later, Yoko Ono chose the same cut for her skirt at her wedding to John Lennon. That same year, Givenchy created a pink dress with a mini skirt for his friend, actress Audrey Hepburn, for her wedding to Andrea Dotti.

And it also reached royalty, both Princess Catherine and Queen Letizia have not hesitated to use them in their official acts.

During her time with the Spice Girls, miniskirts were a regular feature of Victoria Beckham’s wardrobe in all colours and shapes, and now, under the label that bears her name, the designer proposes for this season a new version of the traditional ‘little black dress’ (a basic black dress) with an elongated waistcoat pattern.

Singer Taylor Swift, in a pompous checkered mini, Hailey Bieber and Blake Lively are some of the women who, in their daily lives or when walking the red carpet, show off their bare legs in a miniskirt.

With information from EFE