Fashion
I found two cases of old clothes in the garage, I couldn’t believe what they were worth
A FAMILY from the Scottish Borders helped launch an exhibition which has been seen by a million people around the world – after finding two suitcases of “priceless” designer clothes in a garage.
Linda Kirby was the goddaughter of Pamela Howard who had worked for 60s fashion icon Dame Mary Quant, creator of the miniskirt.
Models pose in Mary Quant designs at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
Linda Kirby and mum Dorothy discovered two suitcases of Mary Quant clothes which kicked off exhibition idea.
Mary Quant pal Heather Tilbury Phillips says the fashion icon used to source materials from Scotland.
Co-curator Jennie Lister has seen her exhibition travel around the world.
But when Pamela died in 2008, Linda discovered the locked cases packed with original designs from London-born Dame Mary who herself passed away last month aged 93.
Linda, from West Linton, donated the clothes to London’s V&A Museum who went on to launch Mary Quant: Fashion Revolutionary, which opens at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum on Saturday May 20.
The 62-year-old, who attended the launch yesterday with her mum Dorothy Kirby, who was Pamela’s school pal, and her daughter Ruth, 27, says: “When she died I was the executor of her will but when I was clearing out her house I came across two big locked suitcases in her garage.
“So we had to break into them and lo and behold everything in them had a Mary Quant logo on them.
“We knew she had worked at Mary Quant for years but she never really talked about it. When she was with me she was just my ‘aunty’ Pam.”
She adds: “But I knew I had to do something with the clothes. So I got in touch with the V&A in London to see if they would like them and they said ‘yes please.’
“My friend and I then lugged these suitcases on the London tube and took them into the museum. They couldn’t believe how many Mary Quant’s we had.”
The exhibition’s co-curator Jennie Lister, 54, said: “Linda had found this amazing wardrobe which helped us tell the incredible story of the people who had worked for Mary Quant.
“We already had a collection at the V&A but these donations filled a lot of gaps.
“It also gave us the idea of launching a social media campaign to ask other people to come forward with clothes and their memories of Mary.
“But those two suitcases really kick-started it all and are why the collection is now so huge now.”
Mary Quant pal and company director Heather Tilbury Phillips, 80, said: “This exhibition has travelled from London to Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and has been seen by one million people globally.
“But Mary would have been delighted it will be finishing in Glasgow, as she loved coming to Scotland to source materials from Harris Tweed to Paisley pattern.”
She adds: “People know Mary for the miniskirt as she has been credited with creating it.
“But she always said that it was the girls who had come into her shop who had said to her ‘we want our skirts shorter,’ so that’s why they went up and up.
“However Mary did call in the miniskirt because she loved the mini car so much. But she influenced so much that you still see today – including the Austin Powers movies.
“She was as much a part of the swinging sixties as the music and the art from that era too.”
Freelance proofreader Linda joked: “I think aunty Pam would’ve be proud to see what her suitcases of clothes sparked off – I’m just glad we never threw them out.”
*Mary Quant: Fashion Revolutionary runs until October 22 at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Tickets cost £8.50, concession £6.50, children under 12 are free.
A FAMILY from the Scottish Borders helped launch an exhibition which has been seen by a million people around the world – after finding two suitcases of “priceless” designer clothes in a garage.
Linda Kirby was the goddaughter of Pamela Howard who had worked for 60s fashion icon Dame Mary Quant, creator of the miniskirt.
Models pose in Mary Quant designs at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
Linda Kirby and mum Dorothy discovered two suitcases of Mary Quant clothes which kicked off exhibition idea.
Mary Quant pal Heather Tilbury Phillips says the fashion icon used to source materials from Scotland.
Co-curator Jennie Lister has seen her exhibition travel around the world.
But when Pamela died in 2008, Linda discovered the locked cases packed with original designs from London-born Dame Mary who herself passed away last month aged 93.
Linda, from West Linton, donated the clothes to London’s V&A Museum who went on to launch Mary Quant: Fashion Revolutionary, which opens at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum on Saturday May 20.
The 62-year-old, who attended the launch yesterday with her mum Dorothy Kirby, who was Pamela’s school pal, and her daughter Ruth, 27, says: “When she died I was the executor of her will but when I was clearing out her house I came across two big locked suitcases in her garage.
“So we had to break into them and lo and behold everything in them had a Mary Quant logo on them.
“We knew she had worked at Mary Quant for years but she never really talked about it. When she was with me she was just my ‘aunty’ Pam.”
She adds: “But I knew I had to do something with the clothes. So I got in touch with the V&A in London to see if they would like them and they said ‘yes please.’
“My friend and I then lugged these suitcases on the London tube and took them into the museum. They couldn’t believe how many Mary Quant’s we had.”
The exhibition’s co-curator Jennie Lister, 54, said: “Linda had found this amazing wardrobe which helped us tell the incredible story of the people who had worked for Mary Quant.
“We already had a collection at the V&A but these donations filled a lot of gaps.
“It also gave us the idea of launching a social media campaign to ask other people to come forward with clothes and their memories of Mary.
“But those two suitcases really kick-started it all and are why the collection is now so huge now.”
Mary Quant pal and company director Heather Tilbury Phillips, 80, said: “This exhibition has travelled from London to Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and has been seen by one million people globally.
“But Mary would have been delighted it will be finishing in Glasgow, as she loved coming to Scotland to source materials from Harris Tweed to Paisley pattern.”
She adds: “People know Mary for the miniskirt as she has been credited with creating it.
“But she always said that it was the girls who had come into her shop who had said to her ‘we want our skirts shorter,’ so that’s why they went up and up.
“However Mary did call in the miniskirt because she loved the mini car so much. But she influenced so much that you still see today – including the Austin Powers movies.
“She was as much a part of the swinging sixties as the music and the art from that era too.”
Freelance proofreader Linda joked: “I think aunty Pam would’ve be proud to see what her suitcases of clothes sparked off – I’m just glad we never threw them out.”
*Mary Quant: Fashion Revolutionary runs until October 22 at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Tickets cost £8.50, concession £6.50, children under 12 are free.
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