THEN & NOW MARKET STREET

Welcome to Then and Now, where each week we compare images of Manchester streets, landmarks and buildings from bygone days with how they look today

OUR main image this week shows fashion designer Mary Quant and her Ginger Group models celebrating in Market Square in February 1966. They’d just completed a photo shoot and were playing ring-o-roses round a lamp-post before taking part in a fashion show at Lewis’s department store.

The only problem was that the models’ hands got dirty and they had to dash back to the store to wash them before the next show!

Quant, centre, recognised Manchester’s premier position in textiles when she launched her Ginger Group wholesale design and manufacturing company in 1963. The company offered up-to-date fashions at affordable prices.

An iconic figure of the ‘60s, Quant had a massive influence on female fashion. She made the mini-skirt popular and even gave it its name. She also introduced another fashion craze – hot pants.

The look pioneered by Quant was quickly taken up by the stars of the time, including Diana Rigg as Emma Peel in the popular TV programme The Avengers.

Men’s fashion was led by Merseybeat and Manchester Beat groups including Herman’s Hermits, the Hollies and, of course, the Beatles. Their mop haircuts, collarless jackets and Cubanheeled boots became all the rage.

Market Street looks a little quieter in photographer Nicola Mazzuia’s modern image. Traffic is banished and there a fewer pedestrians than normal as a result of coronavirus restrictions.

Trees, not present 50 years ago, provide greenery and shade on a summer afternoon.