Fashion unpicked: The ‘Wet Collection’ by Mary Quant

My name is Stephanie Wood. I am co-creator of the Mary Quant exhibition. Mary Quant is one of the most important designers of the 20th century and she revolutionized the way women dress today. We will see some of her wet PVC

collection

s. released in 1963, which really captured the 1960s love affair with space age technology and modern materials, which is why polyvinyl chloride or PVC as it is known was initially developed in the 19th century , but it wasn't until Mary Quant wore it in the 1960s that it was used in

fashion

, so when she initially launched her wet

collection

, the reaction from the press and buyers was absolutely incredible.

Mary Quant landed her first Vogue cover in October 1963 because PVC was a new and experimental material that Mary encountered on many occasions. of problems in terms of mass manufacturing, but the fabric would tear or melt at the foot of the sewing machine, it was not until two years later, with its collaboration with Alligator Rain Web, that it absorbed some of its manufacturing problems, for what this piece here is so weird is a very specific shade of beige that you like to call putty. It is an abbreviated version of the full raincoat that was produced for her 1963 collection in Paris.

A waterproof model and it is called Christopher Robin. It is named after the character Winnie. the Pooh was worn by celebrities such as Cynthia Lennon. She was photographed wearing a raincoat with John Lennon at London Airport in 1964 and he was wearing a Mary Quant cap. It's close with these eight copper alloy buttons that run from the collar to the end. the hem Mary Quant has chosen to use buttonhole binding and that is quite an interesting option that is often used in couture

fashion

, but she uses it for very utilitarian fabrics and the results are not as successful, but... and the Excessive color is typical of Peter Pan style colors.

American, many of his designs on the shoulder detail the hair, he has these very pronounced folds, he tries to manipulate the fabric at the armhole and with the bus he begins the triangular detail to help keep the fabric flat against the body, creating a real design feature of both darts. Mary Quant is on record as saying that she was bewitched by super bright man-made material and garish colors. As soon as she collaborates with Alligator in 1965, she goes crazy and produces a whole rainbow of colors. Alligator Rain Web was a traditional rainwear company within the UK and they found a new life producing PVC Mary Quant clothing.

This particular design was called mood in red with contrasting white, it features Mary Quant's signature zipper pull and then this white panel on either side of the zipper reaches to just above the hem it also includes a buttoned placket that helps keep the legs in dry and hidden pockets here. The lady who initially bought it apparently fell in love with the color which she later came back to in the 1980s when she passed away. for her daughter, it's one of two pieces that we acquired on the back of an All We Want campaign and we have some really beautiful images of a lady who had worn a black and white version and then we have this contrasting blue piece. white collar and matching pockets again, despite a lot of the things he managed to solve in terms of mass manufacturing with crocodile, there are some gathers where it looked like with the zipper and the stitches are quite uneven and he recognizes that it's not necessarily worth being the first.

Experimenting with modern materials and really at that time other designers like Andre Courage and Pierre Cardin had already caught up with her, but it is important to remember that Mary Quant was a pioneer in the use of PVC and revolutionized fashion.