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The 1960s

Hippie, mod, space age

Dress, Mary Quant, ca. 1966
Mary Quant · ca. 1966

Boutiques, music and young wearers helped redirect fashion. Graphic clothes, technological experiments and personal countercultural combinations offered competing visions of modern life.

Key styles

Dress, Mary Quant, ca. 1966

Mod

Short, simple silhouettes · Graphic colour and contrast · Slim, clean lines

Ensemble, Pierre Cardin, 1967

Space Age

Geometric construction · Futuristic accessories · White, silver and modern materials

Knitted Circle, Zandra Rhodes, 1969

Hippie

Loose, flowing shapes · Handmade and vintage influences · Richly patterned textiles

Striped double-breasted corduroy suit, Mr Fish, About 1968

Peacock Revolution

Vivid prints and rich textures · Decorative shirts and ties · Expressive men’s tailoring

Defining work of the 1960s

Selected examples dated to this decade.

Designers active in the 1960s

Dress, Mary Quant, 1966–67

Mary Quant

1966–67

Popularized short, graphic ready-to-wear that offered young women an alternative to formal adult wardrobes.

Coatdress, André Courrèges, 1965

André Courrèges

1965

Made crisp geometry, brief hemlines and futuristic styling central to the Space Age wardrobe.

Sleeveless minidress made from rows of iridescent plastic discs joined by metal rings.

Paco Rabanne

ca. 1966

Assembled dresses from plastic discs and metal rings, challenging the materials and methods of conventional dressmaking.

Ensemble, Pierre Cardin, 1967

Pierre Cardin

1967

Used circles, cutouts and coordinated accessories to give futuristic fashion a distinctive geometric language.

Ensemble, Rudi Gernreich, 1967

Rudi Gernreich

1967

Experimented with bold patterns, abbreviated silhouettes and accessories that extended a design across the whole outfit.

Cape, Yves Saint Laurent, late 1960s

Yves Saint Laurent

late 1960s

Connected couture with modern art and women’s tailoring, then widened its reach through Rive Gauche ready-to-wear.

Evening ensemble, Philip Sills & Co., fall/winter 1964–65

Bonnie Cashin

fall/winter 1964–65

Combined leather, wool and practical hardware in adaptable layers for a mobile, modern wardrobe.

Knitted Circle, Zandra Rhodes, 1969

Zandra Rhodes

1969

Turned expressive textile drawings into loose silhouettes, anticipating the romantic dressing of the following decade.

The world behind
the wardrobe.

Fashion authority shifted toward young consumers, musicians and the people shopping in new boutiques. Mod made a sharply graphic, youthful appearance internationally recognizable, while Space Age designers used geometry and unfamiliar materials to imagine the future. Late in the decade, hippie dress favoured loose shapes, secondhand finds and textiles drawn from many cultures. Together, they show how ideas increasingly travelled from youth culture into the fashion industry, changing both the clothes people wore and who could influence them.

Mid-1960s

Swinging London

Boutiques, pop music and a growing youth market spread short skirts and graphic clothing internationally.

1960s

Imagining the Space Age

Space exploration encouraged geometric clothes, new materials and futuristic accessories.

Late 1960s

Counterculture changes dress

The hippie movement brought secondhand clothing, handcraft and loose silhouettes into the fashion conversation.

Browse all 94 designers

Designers active in this decade. Available garment examples may come from another period; their dates are labeled.

94 of 94 shown

READ FURTHER

FIT Fashion History Timeline: 1960–1969V&A: An introduction to 1960s fashionMuseum of Fine Arts Boston: Hippie Chic
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