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
Made in the Dark suit, particularly the easy grace of the title track, but more often than not sit awkwardly next to the more toothsome numbers and feel under-produced by comparison" with similar comments from AllMusic who said, ""Made in the Dark"'s main weakness might be its ballads, but that may just be in comparison to its many energetic moments, which are so addictive that it feels like a forced come-down whenever the band slows things down." However, "The Observer" gave a positive evaluation of the ballads; "Hot Chip have had a happy way with a subliminal power ballad. And "Made in the Dark"