The Avengers was a popular and entertaining British television spy series produced by the ABC in the 60's. It followed the adventures of British super-secret agents, John Steed and Emma Peel (who was later replaced). Their sophisticated cool added another dimension to the image of British secret agents.

The female main character in the show was played by Diana Rigg from 1965. Her name said it all: M-an A-p-PEAL, Emma Peel. She was famous for the exotic outfits and catsuits she wore on the show. The catsuits were usually made of leather or stretch fabrics and as the show grew in popularity the cut-outs in her cat suit grew larger and larger. Stockings for the series were designed by Echo Hosiery.

In 1965 John Bates was given the job of designing Diana Rigg’s costumes. The producers wanted a change of image for the programme; they wanted something up-to-date, slick and slightly aggressive to replace the leather cat suits and flowing gowns of the old series. Bates designed a range of outfits which made front-page headlines in almost every English Daily and boosted viewership for the series. The production team complained that the skirts were too short and lowered the hemlines, so Bates simply stopped leaving a hem. The camera men claimed that the TV sets could technically not cope with the black and white designs, but they were proved wrong.

After Emma Peel wore a wetsuit-type cat suit on the show the immediate effect was that designers everywhere copied the sleek look. Some of the clothes she wore were influenced by Yves Saint Laurent.

Patrick Macnee played John Steed who often wore bowler hats, he was partnered by a succession of Karate-expert females, none more popular than Diana Rigg as Emma Peel.

Last updated: June 01, 2003

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