Quant, Plunket Greene and a friend, lawyer-turned-photographer Archie McNair, opened a restaurant (Alexander's) in the basement of the new building, and a boutique called Bazaar on the ground floor. In 1955, Plunket Greene purchased Markham House on the King's Road in Chelsea, London, an area frequented by the 'Chelsea Set' – a group of young artists, film directors and socialites interested in exploring new ways of living – and dressing.
She graduated in 1953 with a diploma in art education, and began an apprenticeship at a high-end milliner, Erik of Brook Street. Following her parents' refusal to let her attend a fashion course, Quant studied illustration at Goldsmiths, where she met her future husband, the aristocrat Alexander Plunket Greene. Mary Quant was born and brought up in Blackheath, London, the daughter of two Welsh schoolteachers.
