Quant & advertising: Collett Dickenson Pearce

Sykes, Janine ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0189-7297 (2019) Quant & advertising: Collett Dickenson Pearce. In: Mary Quant. V&A Publishing, pp. 164-171. ISBN 9781851779956

Abstract

This essay traces a series of contextual influences upon British Advertising in the post-war period and by doing so locates the Quant Brand within the ‘creative revolution’. Developments in British Art Education, high-definition printing techniques and the creative practices of the agencies such as Collett Dickenson Pearce (CDP) all contributed to the advertising platform from which new visions of life and style were imagined. CDP and Mary Quant Limited were both companies that placed creativity at the apex of their business and by doing so became the game-changers that influenced the next generation of innovators including the Saatchi brothers. Many examples of Quant adverts are discussed, revealing how the concept of Quant ‘radical fashion design for all’ was communicated to the public in a creative manner. This study contends that the particular type of art education experienced by Mary Quant and the (CDP) advertising creatives Colin Millward and Ron Collins received, influenced the creative direction of the Quant brand. All the adverts selected in the essay celebrated Quant’s experimental approach to design; and encouraged women to be ‘bold’ by using cosmetic and fashion colour palettes to create radical new looks. This creative strategy appealed to women ready for social change and together Quant and CDP transformed the world of fashion and cosmetics.

Actions (login required)

Edit Item Edit Item