Vanity Fair (1963) and "John Bates: Fashion Designer" by Richard Lester.

This issue of Vanity Fair has a picture of an evening dress by John Bates for Jean Varon on its cover.

“Jean Varon” was John Bates’ own label, established in 1959.  (“Jean” because it was French for John, and “Varon” because there were no other designers with names starting with “V” in the directory!)  In the early sixties, conventional evening dresses like the one above were Jean Varon’s bread-and-butter.  However, by the middle of the decade John Bates was also designing some of the most modern and cutting-edge styles around:

“On the one hand sleek, beautifully styled traditional day and evening dresses; ultimately very wearable and designed to appeal to a broad cross-section of clients, and on the other an undercurrent of change, gradually introducing new ideas and, when seen in the context of the history of 1960s fashion, pure innovation.” (Page 27)

Bates’ designs steadily gained press-coverage as the decade progressed, but real fame arrived when he was commissioned to design Diana Rigg’s costumes for The Avengers in 1965, including 

“coordinated skirt and trouser suits, ‘fighting suits’, op-art fur coats, bold shift dresses with contrast stripes, vinyl double breasted ‘car coats’, a white crepe plunge neck dress with Cossack embroidery and elegant empire line evening dresses with guipure-lace bodices, gathered high under the bust.” (Page 38)

A modern and eye-catching wardrobe for an iconic action TV heroine!

As the 1960s became the 1970s, mod fashions went out, and fashions inspired by nostalgia and the counterculture came in.  Bates moved with the times, designing some lushly romantic dresses utilizing pleats, patterns and embroidery for a rich and sophisticated look.   In 1974 he opened his own name label specialising in the luxury-end of the ready-to-wear market.  He had

"proved beyond any doubt that he was just as adept at handling fine silk, suede and fur as the new manmade fabrics used extensively at Jean Varon." (page 116)

He also became famous—even infamous!—for his backless evening dresses, and his slinky and very décolleté “Cosmopolitan” dresses.  (“Cosmopolitan” because they appeared on the cover of Cosmopolitan, of course!)

In 1980 John Bates ended his fashion career, closing down "John Bates" and selling his Jean Varon label 21 years after he had founded it. 

John Bates: Fashion Designer
Woodbridge, Suffolk: ACC Editions, ©2008
9781851495702