The miniskirt is enjoying a renaissance in the fashion world after several seasons of the midiskirt and modest lengths finding favour. Asos, the online retailer, is stocking 165 miniskirt options this season, while Topshop has reported a 106% rise in searches. In response, it has shortened the hemline of one of its most popular styles.

“We’re expecting our mini version of the best-selling slip skirt to be a favourite this season,” says Anthony Cuthbertson, global design director at Topshop. The midi-to-mini transition is well into its stride on the catwalk. Burberry showed a cow-print miniskirt, complete with stirrups, on the catwalk in its SS19 collection, while Chanel featured the skirt as part of a co-ordinated set bearing the label’s name.

The style has returned to the limelight partly due to the V&A’s exhibition on Mary Quant, which opened this month in London. The 1960s designer may not have invented the mini, but she popularised it.

Emma Bunton. Photograph: Beretta/Sims/Rex/Shutterstock

Ellie Pithers, fashion features editor at British Vogue, says: “There’s something inherently optimistic about wearing a miniskirt, which perhaps explains why they’re having such a comeback. They’re defiantly youthful, too – which isn’t to say you can’t wear one if you’re ‘of a mature vintage’, rather that you just need confidence to carry it off.”

The mini may be thought of as more of a young person’s trend, but there are signs that the skirts are being bought by all ages. Emma Bunton, 43, the Spice Girls singer, recently wore a black leather mini while promoting her new album and Gwen Stefani, 49, was out wearing a denim one with fishnet tights in Los Angeles. Away from the celebrity circuit, the Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom, 55, has been sporting a black leather skirt which sits above the knee , and the TV presenter Caroline Flack, 39, opted for one in denim, paired with black ankle boots.

The miniskirt counters the fashion industry’s recent gravitation towards more “modest” dressing, which has favoured lowered hemlines and looser shapes.

However, the reaction to the return of the miniskirt may be mixed. In recent years those in the public eye have not fared well when it comes to wearing shorter lengths.

The television presenters Emily Maitlis, Susanna Reid and Helen Skelton were all chastised online for wearing hems above the knee.

By contrast, a pink suede mini worn by presenter Holly Willoughby on ITV’s This Morning proved a hit. M&S, for which Willoughby is a brand ambassador, sold 300,000 miniskirts after she wore one in its Christmas advert, according to Vogue.

Pithers believes “there’s defiance in a flash of leg” and agrees that the climate is right for revival.

“The current news cycle spells doom – politically, environmentally and socially speaking,” she says. “Two fingers up to all that right now is manifesting itself for me with a short hem and a big wide smile.”