Bates

John (1938). Designer in the Swinging London of the 1960s. He is considered one of the inventors of the pantsuit and of very short miniskirts. Born in Ponteland, Great Britain, the son of a mine worker, he worked first as a journalist and then as a fashion illustrator. In 1964, together with two partners, he founded the prêt-à-porter firm Jean Varon. It was the beginning of the success which would lead him to design costumes for Diana Rigg, the star of the TV series The Avengers. Starting in 1974 he designed his own line.
&Quad;Perhaps the most famous model created by Bates, the “A-line dress,” with the bodice removed and replaced by a simple knit mesh, is on permanent display at the Museum of Costume in Bath, England.