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Miniskirt Pioneer Dies At 93

Published

3 years ago

April 13, 2023

Editor

Fashion designer Mary Quant, the style queen of Britain’s Swinging Sixties who popularised the miniskirt, died on Thursday aged 93, her family said, prompting a flood of tributes.

Whether Quant actually invented the then scandalously short skirts has long been disputed, with French designer Andre Courreges insisting he was the first to raise hemlines high on the thigh.

But there is no doubt that without Quant, the mini would not have become an icon of 1960s youth rebellion.

The diminutive designer — whose trademark bob was styled by Vidal Sassoon — was also credited with creating hot pants, the skinny-rib sweater and waterproof mascara.

Alexandra Shulman, former editor-in-chief of British Vogue, called her a “visionary” while Britain’s V&A design museum paid tribute to her “trailblazing” legacy.

“It’s impossible to overstate Quant’s contribution to fashion,” the museum said on Twitter.

“She was one of the original disruptors, whose trend-setting work changed the way we thought as well as how we dressed,” added Professor Frances Corner of London’s Goldsmiths college, where Quant studied.

“This profound impact took us from the black and white world of the 1950s to the technicolour brilliance of the 1960s and beyond.”

– ‘Shorter, Shorter’ –
Quant opened her first boutique, Bazaar, in 1955 with her future husband and business partner Alexander Plunket Greene, who died in 1990.

Located in Chelsea, which would become the beating heart of Swinging London, the shop sold clothes and accessories and its basement restaurant became a meeting point for young people and artists.

The whole Chelsea district was soon attracting celebrities such as the actors Brigitte Bardot and Audrey Hepburn and pop stars including the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Quant raised hemlines well above the knee, creating short dresses and skirts with simple shapes and strong colours that she described as “arrogant, aggressive and sexy”.

“Good taste is death, vulgarity is life,” she told The Guardian.

Her models were showcased in provocative window displays overlooking the King’s Road, which became a miniskirt catwalk and drew American photographers keen to capture Swinging London.

“City gents in bowler hats beat on our shop window with their umbrellas shouting ‘Immoral!’ and ‘Disgusting!’ at the sight of our miniskirts over the tights, but customers poured in to buy,” she recalled in her 1966 book “Quant by Quant”.

The designer was also widely quoted as saying that “it was the girls on the King’s Road who invented the mini… I wore them very short and the customers would say, ‘Shorter, shorter’”.

– ‘Quite outrageous’ –
The era’s most high-profile model Lesley Lawson, better known as Twiggy, made the miniskirt popular abroad, and with business booming, Quant opened a second shop in London in 1957.

She explored geometric designs, polka dots and contrasting colours, and played with new fabrics, including PVC and stretch fabrics, to achieve a modern and playful look.

She entered the American market in the early 1960s, collaborating with department store JC Penney. She also created the cheaper Ginger Group line and went into cosmetics, all her designs featuring a trademark daisy.

Quant also scandalised British society with her frank views on sex, making headlines when she famously said she had shaved her pubic hair into the shape of a heart and dyed it green.

Although her heyday was in the 1960s and 1970s, when she turned her sights on the Japanese market, Quant’s legacy can still be seen on the high street, with its high fashion at low prices.

She sold her make-up company to a Japanese group in 2000, staying on as consultant.

Alongside making it in America, Quant considered being knighted in 2015 her greatest achievement, and called Queen Elizabeth II, who made her a dame, “the wisest woman I’ve ever met”.

Asked by The Guardian in 2016 what she would change if she could edit her past, Quant replied: “Not much, I’ve had a lovely time.”

Headline

Russia Insists Ukraine Must Cede Land Or Face Continued Military Push

Published

9 hours ago

November 27, 2025

Editor

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he would end his Ukraine offensive if Kyiv withdrew from territory Moscow claims at its own — otherwise his army would take it by force.

The Russian army has been slowly but steadily grinding through eastern Ukraine in costly battles against outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces.

Washington has meanwhile renewed its push to end the nearly four-year war, putting forward a surprise plan that it hopes to finalise through upcoming talks with Moscow and Kyiv.

“If Ukrainian forces leave the territories they hold, then we will stop combat operations,” Putin said during a visit to Kyrgyzstan. “If they don’t, then we will achieve it by military means.”

Russia controls around one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory. The issue of occupied land, which Kyiv has said it will never cede, is among the biggest stumbling blocks in the peace process.

Another important issue in the talks are Western security guarantees for Ukraine, which Kyiv says are needed to prevent Moscow from invading again in the future.

Washington’s original plan — drafted without input from Ukraine’s European allies — would have seen Kyiv withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the United States de facto recognise the Donetsk, Crimea and Lugansk regions as Russian.

The US pared back the original plan over the weekend following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but has not yet released the new version.

Putin, who has seen the new plan, said it could be a negotiation starter.

“Overall, we agree that it could form the basis for future agreements,” he said of the latest draft, which the US is thought to have shortened to about 20 points.

US negotiator Steve Witkoff was expected in Moscow next week to discuss the revised document, Putin said.

US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is meanwhile due to visit Kyiv later this week, Ukraine’s top presidential aide Andriy Yermak said.

– ‘Little can be done’ –

In his remarks Thursday, Putin repeated the claim that Russia had encircled the Ukrainian army in Pokrovsk and Myrnograd in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region — the most fiercely embattled area and a key target for Moscow’s forces.

“Krasnoarmeysk and Dimitrov are completely surrounded,” he said, using the Russian names for the cities.

Moscow was also advancing in Vovchansk and Siversk, as well as approaching the important logistic hub of Guliaipole, he added.

The Russian offensive “is practically impossible to hold back, so there is little that can be done about it”, Putin said.

Ukraine has denied Pokrovsk and Myrnograd are encircled, insisting its forces continue to hold the enemy along the front line.

Putin also questioned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s legitimacy and said signing any agreement with him would be legally “almost impossible” at the moment, a suggestion that has drawn groans from Kyiv and its allies.

According to data analysed by AFP from the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian forces have conquered an average of 467 square kilometres (180 square miles) each month in 2025 — a step up from 2024.

Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering the worst armed conflict in Europe since World War II.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced millions to flee their homes.

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Morocco Jails French Rapper Maes For Kidnapping Bid

Published

1 day ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

A Moroccan court has sentenced French rapper Maes to seven years in prison on charges including the formation of a criminal gang and attempted kidnapping, local reports said Wednesday.

Maes, who has roots in Morocco and whose real name is Walid Georgey, was arrested upon landing in Morocco in January after fleeing the United Arab Emirates, where he feared he could be extradited to France, the reports said.

French authorities had issued an international arrest warrant for him over a separate criminal case.

He appeared in court late Tuesday and was found guilty of “forming a criminal organisation, attempted abduction and unlawful confinement” of a rival in Morocco, news website TelQuel reported.

The rapper with over a billion views on his YouTube channel was accused of tasking a gang and hitmen with killing the rival, but the plot was foiled, TelQuel added.

Maes has denied all charges, with his lawyers calling the case “empty” and “arguing that no evidence linked him to the other defendants”, TelQuel added.

Ten other people were sentenced as part of the case, with terms ranging from one to 10 years, according to news website Media24.

AFP was unable to independently verify the reports as prosecutors were not immediately reachable for comment.

In 2020, when Maes was one of France’s most-streamed rappers, he fell victim to extortion attempts in his native Sevran, a suburb north of Paris, according to reports.

He retaliated by opening fire with weapons he had at home, leading to a shootout. He then fled to Dubai with his family, according to an interview with French YouTube channel LEGEND.

Following the killing of his manager in 2022, he was suspected of ordering reprisals against those he believed were behind the murder, according to reports.

AFP

Headline

UK Court Clears Comedy Writer Of Harassing Transgender Woman

Published

1 day ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

A London court on Tuesday cleared Emmy award-winning comedy writer Graham Linehan of harassing a transgender activist online but found him guilty of criminal damage to their mobile phone.

Linehan, who co-created the popular 1990s sitcom “Father Ted” but has more recently become well-known for his gender critical views, had been accused of sending Sophia Brooks “abusive and vindictive” messages on social media.

He was also charged with criminal damage after deliberately knocking a phone out of Brooks’s hand as they filmed him on the sidelines of a London conference.

Ruling on the case, District Judge Briony Clarke said she was not convinced Linehan’s conduct “was oppressive and unacceptable beyond merely unattractive, annoying or irritating”.

Clarke also concluded Brooks was not “as alarmed and distressed as they portrayed themself to be”.

But convicting Linehan of criminal damage, the judge ruled he was “angry and fed up” and did not use “reasonable force” when the phone was taken from Brooks.

Clarke fined him £500 ($655) and ordered him to pay costs of £650 and a statutory surcharge of £200.

The Irish writer, who also co-created the popular sitcoms “Black Books” and “The IT Crowd”, became embroiled in a free speech row in Britain earlier this year over his anti-transgender stance.

It followed his arrest at London’s Heathrow Airport by armed police over accusations of inciting violence with his X posts insulting transgender people.

The arrest sparked a backlash and claims of state overreach, including from US tech billionaire Elon Musk. But in October, UK prosecutors said they would take “no further action” in that case.

AFP