John Bates (designer) the Year and donated to the Fashion Museum, Bath, which in 2006 held a major retrospective show of his work. One of Bates' most influential champions was Marit Allen, the editor of British Vogue's Young Ideas spread, who considered Bates the true inventor of the miniskirt, rather than Mary Quant or André Courrèges. Ernestine Carter also observed Bates' originality, noting that the Paris fashion collections for 1967 contained many looks which Bates had done first. In 1965 Bates designed memorable outfits for Diana Rigg to wear for her role as Emma Peel in "The Avengers", including Op-Art mini-coats and accessories
Miniskirt the "best show seen so far" for that season by "The New York Times". The Courrèges look, featuring a knit bodystocking with a gabardine miniskirt slung around the hips, was widely copied and plagiarised, much to the designer's chagrin, and it would be 1967 before he again held a press showing for his work. Steele has described Courrèges's work as a "brilliant couture version of youth fashion" whose sophistication far outshone Quant's work, although she champions the Quant claim. Others, such as Jess Cartner-Morley of "The Guardian" explicitly credit him, rather than Quant, as the miniskirt's creator. The idea that