John Bates worked for a number of fashion design houses in
London before setting up his own firm, which was called Jean Varon,
in 1959. The firm specialised in well-designed, mid-priced clothes
for women who did not have vast amounts of money to spend on
dress.
By the 1970s John Bates was in charge of a thriving fashion
business which sold in towns and cities throughout Britain, as well
as internationally. Jean Varon closed in 1980.
John Bates was one of the main British fashion designers working
in what fashion editors on newspapers and magazines had termed ‘the
Puritan look’. Essentially, this was a neat phrase coined to
describe ‘buttoned-up’ dresses in sombre shades, but with flashes
of lighter colours.
The collection at the Fashion Museum includes over 500 dresses
designed by John Bates for Jean Varon, as well as pieces from John
Bates' own label. This collection has been donated to the Museum by
Richard Lester, and by John Bates.