Miniskirts Forever: How One Piece of Clothing Came to Symbolize Women’s Liberation

Miniskirts! Aren’t we having fun already?

Since the early 1960s, miniskirts have existed as a symbol of women’s liberation. It is no coincidence that designers like Mary Quant, André Courrèges, and Yves Saint Laurent all began to raise hemlines, (and some eyebrows), during the early days of the feminist movement. In “Swinging London,” models like Twiggy sported mod miniskirts with white tights and go-go boots; in Paris, the look became part of the Space Age trend; and in America, activists like Germaine Greer and Gloria Steinem sported them on the front lines.

In fact, miniskirts became so politicized that when designers like Dior failed to show them on the runway, a group of women who called themselves the “British Society for the Protection of Mini Skirts,” protested outside of the show with signs that read, “Mini skirts forever.”

Miniskirts never quite faded from the public consciousness—with icons like Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, The Spice Girls, Ally McBeal and Cher Horowitz of Clueless all keeping the trend alive. But they really made a comeback in the early 2000s, when American designers like Tom Ford brought sex back into fashion, and It girls like Pamela Anderson and Paris Hilton raised hemlines even further with denim miniskirts, proliferating what we now call the “micro mini.” As Hilton herself told W this year, “Skirts should be the size of a belt. Life’s short; take risks.”

Today, supermodels like Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner, and are all doing their predecessors proud, flaunting miniskirts by designers like Gucci, Miu Miu, and Marc Jacobs on both the red carpet and at after parties. Long story short: In 2017, we’ve finally reached the point where our hemlines are free to be as macro or mini as the please.

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