Felicity Green, a pioneering British fashion editor known for championing the vibrant street styles of the 1960s, died on September 10 at her home in London. She was 100 years old. Her passing was announced by Deborah Bee, a friend and former student.
Green had a significant influence on British fashion journalism during a transformative period marked by the rise of youthful, democratized trends. She initially worked for Woman and Beauty magazine before joining the Daily Mirror in the early 1960s, at a time when London was emerging as a global fashion center. The city’s youth were challenging traditional sartorial norms, embracing styles that broke from established conventions.
As fashion editor for the Daily Mirror, a working-class newspaper with a daily circulation of around five million readers, Green introduced groundbreaking trends such as the miniskirt, widely associated with designers like Mary Quant and the Biba label. Her fashion spreads were known for their bold use of photography and cheeky tone, often highlighting the playful and provocative aspects of contemporary style. Models appeared in mod outfits in unconventional settings, including steam rooms and pubs, reflecting the era’s vitality and irreverence.
Green was an early advocate of innovations such as tights, which she promoted as essential for women wearing the increasingly prevalent micro-miniskirts. She also brought the trend behind the Iron Curtain, photographing mini-dress-clad models in Moscow during a 1967 British trade delegation, documenting the stark cultural contrast and local reactions to the daring fashions.
Her efforts were not without resistance. Some male colleagues at the Daily Mirror expressed discomfort with the youthful styles she featured, including Cecil King, the paper’s chairman, who once confronted her over the prominence of miniskirts in the publication. Green responded that she would continue featuring the fashions as long as they remained popular.
In 1964, Green made a notable contribution to British fashion retail by facilitating a mail-order dress collaboration with designer Barbara Hulanicki, whose Biba label later grew into a cult boutique epitomizing the 1960s “youthquake” style. The campaign's unexpected demand depleted the nation’s stock of pink gingham fabric and helped launch Biba’s rise to prominence.
Green did not shy away from controversy. In 1969, she ran a headline-grabbing story about Mary Quant's husband reportedly styling the designer’s pubic hair, which attracted both public fascination and official scrutiny, though a formal complaint to the British Press Council did not proceed.
Born in 1926 in Dagenham, East London, Green was the only child of Jewish parents Annie and Emanuel Green. Her early career was marked by persistence and a passion for fashion, rising from clerical work to fashion editor despite initial obstacles. She married Geoffrey Hill in 1952; he died in 1992. The couple had no children.
Green served as a director of the Mirror Group in the 1970s but resigned after discovering wage disparities between herself and male directors. Afterwards, she worked with Vidal Sassoon and contributed to various publications, including the Daily Express and the Telegraph, while also teaching at Central Saint Martins College of Art.
Reflecting on fashion in a 2014 interview, Green described the industry as a powerful business distinction between “fashion” as an ephemeral force and “clothes” as tangible items, urging consumers to prioritize the latter. Her career left a lasting imprint on British fashion journalism and culture during a pivotal era.