Jean Shrimpton

This month, British fashion institution Burberry revealed their autumn/winter 2011 campaign photography shot by Mario Testino, the inspiration for which was another great British style inamorata, Jean Shrimpton. The hair, make-up,mod-ish 60s inspired pea coats right down to the models’ heavy eye make-up and cool angular poses echoed that of the famous portraits David Bailey took of his lover and muse, the 'face of' the swinging 60s.

Jean Shrimpton’s dangerous doe-eyed sexuality was in stark contrast to the aspirational aristocratic models of the 50s. A representation of the changing cultural landscape, as a model in 60s London, Shrimpton was right at the centre of the youth quake revolution; the glamour of Shrimpton and her lover Bailey’s relationship forming the inspiration for Blow-Up, a cult film centred around a groovy London-based photographer surrounded by a carousel of stylish young things.

Shrimpton’s miniskirted gamine limbs walked where other’s followed with their newfound sartorial freedom. In 1964 Shrimpton shocked Britain with a Harper's Bazaar shoot where she appeared dressed outrageously provocatively in fur, black gloves and high patent leather boots. The following year she caused a media scandal in Australia, where she is frequently credited as introducing the country to the miniskirt, when she appeared at the Melbourne Derby in a daring white Colin Role mini dress.

These days, Shrimpton leads a quieter life in Cornwall running a hotel. Despite telling the Guardian in a recent interview, "I don't live my life through the prism of the past," her influence on contemporary fashion and photography proves enduring.

Images of Jean Shrimpton and other icons of the sixties and seventies appear in Duffy: A Visual Record of Photographic Genius, opening at Idea Generation Gallery on July 8 2011. Duffy published by ACC Editions in July, £45. To order a copy call 01394 389977 or go online at www.accpublishinggroup.com.

Text by Laura Havlin