British fashion designer Dame Mary Quant dies age 93

Mary Quant is known for her fashion, which said to have epitomised the Swinging 60s. Photo: AP

British fashion designer Dame Mary Quant, who was widely credited with popularising the mini skirt, has died at the age of 93, her family said.

The British fashion designer died peacefully at her home in Surrey on Thursday morning (April 13), a statement from her family to the PA news agency said.

A statement released on behalf of her family said: "Dame Mary Quant died peacefully at home in Surrey, UK, this morning.

"Dame Mary, aged 93, was one of the most internationally recognised fashion designers of the 20th century and an outstanding innovator of the Swinging Sixties.

"She opened her first shop Bazaar in the Kings Road in 1955 and her far sighted and creative talents quickly established a unique contribution to British fashion.”

She was one of the most influential figures in the fashion scene of the 1960s and is credited with making fashion accessible to the masses with her sleek, streamlined and vibrant designs.

Born in south-east London on February 11 1930, Dame Mary was the daughter of two Welsh school teachers.

She gained a diploma in the 1950s in art education at Goldsmiths College, where she met her husband Alexander Plunket Greene, who later helped establish her brand.

Dame Mary was taken on as an apprentice to a milliner before making her own clothes and in 1955 opened Bazaar, a boutique on the Kings Road in Chelsea. – dpa