Before the Squier line of guitars was introduced in 1982, Fender was making lower priced guitars such as the Fender Lead Series. Until the introduction of the Fender Squier series, Fender had never produced lower priced guitars based on its main Stratocaster and Telecaster models and had always used different model designs for its lower priced guitars.
Over time, the Squier series slowly evolved to include original model designs. These guitars were massively successful and some of the Squier guitars were turned into Fender guitars.