Ossie & Celia: The Enduring Magic of Fashion, Print and Textile Design
Yesterday I headed to the Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey to visit Ossie & Celia, an exhibition celebrating the extraordinary creative partnership of fashion designer Ossie Clark and textile designer Celia Birtwell.
This is a particularly special place for me. I have a personal connection with the building, having once worked here as the textile designer for Zandra Rhodes. It was Rhodes who envisioned the building as a creative hub, a place dedicated to celebrating fashion, textiles and design, and providing a home for some of the most remarkable examples of historic and contemporary textile creativity. To return and explore an exhibition devoted to one of Britain's most influential textile designers feels especially lovely.
Back in the summer, I also had the pleasure of a private tour of the Collier Campbell exhibition, which I wrote about here. It was wonderful to return to the museum and once again immerse myself in the world of British textile design and the creative stories behind some of its most recognisable names.
This exhibition celebrates the remarkable work of Ossie Clark and Celia Birtwell, whose complementary creative processes came together to create something quite magical. Clark's extraordinary understanding of cut, shape and movement, combined with Birtwell's instinctive eye for colour, pattern and print, formed the foundations of an iconic partnership. Their work not only defined an era but has had an enormous influence on generations of designers, myself included.
As a textile designer, what I find particularly fascinating is the way Celia's prints remain so recognisable, yet never feel dated. Her beautiful florals, considered compositions and seemingly effortless approach to colour and pattern have a timeless quality. There is a simplicity to her visual language, but also an incredible depth of reference, drawing on art, nature, history and the decorative arts.
Looking at these designs today, it is hard to believe that many were first created in the 1960s and 70s. They feel just as relevant and contemporary now as they did then, which is perhaps the greatest testament to the strength of her design.
I have gathered some of the exhibition text and images below, keeping the original exhibition headings, as there is so much to discover in the story of Ossie and Celia. I hope you enjoy exploring their world as much as I did, and perhaps find a little inspiration in the prints, fabrics and creative details along the way.
Ballet Russes inspired print called Monkey Puzzle
GIRL MEETS BOY...
Celia Birtwell first met Ossie Clark in 1960 at the Cona Coffee bar in Manchester when they were both students in the city. This encounter marked the start of a long relationship sparking a creative partnership that changed the face of fashion and gave rise to an instantly recognisable style that attracted celebrities and rock stars, dominating the London scene from 1965 to 1974. Marianne Faithfull, Pattie Boyd, Jimi Hendrix and Mick Jagger were just a few of the celebrities who wore the couple's intoxicating designs.
The masterful cut of Clark's seductive garments and the exquisite beauty of Birtwell's prints represented the antithesis of synthetic 1960s' fashion, their rebellious designs pushing the acceptable dress codes into new territory.
Although looking to the past, the couple's designs were resolutely modern. With plunging necklines and diaphanous fabrics, Clark's designs celebrated the silhouette of the newly liberated woman. This generation had fluid boundaries in everything including their wardrobes. Clark and Birtwell's satin and sheer chiffon shirts were popular with both men and women in a decade that embraced androgyny and flamboyance.
Following Clark's graduation from the Royal College of Art (RCA) in 1965, the couple joined Alice Pollock at her hip Kensington boutique Quorum. Mad about music and drawn to the world of rock stars, Clark brought the concept of performance to the boutique's fashion shows, creating legendary theatrical events that fused fashion and music in a way never seen before.
Birtwell's artistic and emotional support remained a constant in Clark's life until the couple's separation in 1973, the year that marked a downfall in his fortunes partly due to the changing landscape of fashion. However, the designer experienced a revival in the late 1970s and continued to produce couture dresses for friends until his premature death in 1996.
SWINGING LONDON
They were a very beautiful couple, devoted couple, very stylish, very original: their clothes had an informality yet were beautifully structured by Ossie. They were non-conformist; Ossie and Celia's clothes were not well-behaved, they were renegade, really rebellious. (Molly Parkin, quoted in Celia Birtwell, text by Dominic Lutyens, London: Quadrille Publishing Limited, 2011, p.34)
The young couple shared a love of art and nature, Hollywood glamour and Léon Bakst's costumes for the Ballets Russes. Settled in London and part of the artsy Notting Hill scene, Clark and Birtwell enjoyed trawling Portobello market buying LPs, flowers, ceramics and clothes from the 1920s,'30s and '40s with Art Deco and floral prints.
The closeness of the couple's creative partnership was palpable. They worked together in an organic way, Birtwell choosing the colours and designing the prints while Clark, inspired by Birtwell's sketchbooks, would play with the proportions, matching his designs to hers. Birtwell was not only Clark's muse and collaborator but also helped the designer to focus.
Birtwell's early designs for Quorum included two border prints: a Cubist-inspired design and a tulip print. A third design inspired by Sonia Delaunay and Léon Bakst was a print of concentric circles in red and purple on white organza. Clark fashioned Birtwell's print into a short-sleeved dress with fitted bust that she christened the 'Bakst' dress.
In 1967 Nova magazine asked the young couple to design a mail-order paper dress, the perfect canvas for a two-dimensional design. Birtwell's original gouache designs took inspiration from the work of artist Paul Poiret and the illustrations of the early twentieth-century fashion magazine Gazette du Bon Ton. The orange-and-green floral print was new for the time, an exciting first glimpse of the Art Deco influence that featured in Birtwell's most arresting designs. It was their shared love of early twentieth-century Orientalism that made Birtwell and Clark's work unique.
THE WIZARD OF OSSIE
Ossie Clark is the wizard who designed the clothes in these four pages. He's a magician leading a magical mysterious change of fashion now. Translucent tulips blossoming on shimmering satin... Billowing sleeves growing into huge cuffs...
Clark left the RCA as a confident designer and an excellent pattern cutter. His MA Op Art collection catapulted him into the pages of Vogue. The instant recognition of Clark's talent by Vanessa Denza of the Knightsbridge boutique Woollands 21 brought him early financial success, accelerating his transition from talented student to avant-garde trendsetter.
The Swinging London in-crowd had now returned to Chelsea and Quorum moved to 52 Radnor Walk just off the King's Road, becoming home to a new fashion elite.
Believing that the days of the mini were over, however, Clark soon took a new direction, creating a romantic white jersey and organza collection, cut on the bias with soft frills around the arms and transparent chiffons in Birtwell's floral trellis prints. Later that same year, the innovative Clark turned his attention to designing a more sculpted look - a 'Rocker' leather jacket (a first for women) worn with culottes.
In the summer of 1967, the King's Road was awash with people wearing their granny's clothes as Clark's designs began to exhibit an increasingly retro feel embracing lower hemlines. The retro spirit was reflected in the popular 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde, which showcased 1930s' style.
Clark's new 'midi' skirt for Quorum was based on historical riding dress and was an immediate success.
In March 1968 Vogue devoted four pages to enthusing about Clark's latest collection in an article entitled 'The Wizard of Ossie', photographed by David Bailey.
MR AND MRS CLARK
In 1969 Clark and Birtwell, pregnant with their first child, married in an informal wedding ceremony at Kensington Registry Office. The only guests were Kay, Clark's sister, and close friend and fellow northerner David Hockney.
Kindred spirits, from similar family backgrounds, Birtwell shared Hockney's love of art and travel and became his muse, frequently sketched by the artist. Clark's relationship with his friend was complicated, especially when the couple's relationship fractured and Hockney appeared to replace him in Birtwell's affections. The day after the wedding Clark left to honeymoon in Barbados alone.
For the wedding, Birtwell wore the 'Ophelia' dress, a garment that demonstrates how radical Clark's designs were. An ethereal chiffon dress, simultaneously romantic and revealing and completely unrestricting, its shape resembles a kaftan - Clark's interpretation of the current vogue. Clark wore a floral print shirt but not one of Birtwell's designs.
Hockney immortalised the fashionable young couple in the iconic portrait, Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy (1970-71). Painted at their home in a setting that consciously reflects contemporary modern taste, Birtwell stands, hands on waist, while Clark slouches in a tubular wicker chair, cigarette in hand, his bare feet buried in the white shagpile carpet, their cat Blanche (renamed Percy for the painting) on his lap.
Birtwell, pregnant with the couple's second son, George, is wearing Clark's 'Heavenly Twins dress, a spiral of scarlet running down the sleeve and long scarlet ties from the neckline. Clark wears a shirt in Birtwell's 'Floating Daisy' print, the collar peeking out from his jumper - an endearing detail reflecting the couple's intimate relationship.
Sadly, the couple separated only two years later.
PARIS CALLING
By 1968, Quorum had acquired large debts and needed refinancing. It did not help that Clark was very liberal in giving away clothes for free.
The decision was made to sell the business to successful clothing manufacturer Alfred Radley.
Clark remained the designer for the Quorum label as well as the more affordable 'Ossie Clark for Radley'. Suddenly, 'normal' girls could buy into the dream of rock-star glamour. However, by 1972 the King's Road shop had closed as the designer became increasingly involved in his own label, leaving his designs to be adapted by an in-house studio that failed to recapture the magic.
Tailored coats and jackets were an important part of Clark's design vocabulary, a complement to his romantic dresses. Clark's re-interpretations of the redingote (riding coat) and frock coat highlight his knowledge of historic fashion while pointing to the fact that the romanticism of late 1960s' and 1970s' fashion was often informed by historic styles. His respect for British tradition and craftsmanship is reflected in his use of Harris tweed. The results demonstrate his feel for different fabrics and his ability to make expertly tailored and streamlined, practical garments.
In 1970 Clark was invited by the French manufacturer Mendes, producer of Yves Saint Laurent's 'Rive Gauche' collection, to create a prêt-a-porter collection in Paris, which was an amazing opportunity for the designer. Clark respected couture and was indeed making clothes to a higher standard than the British couture houses at the time. In April 1971 Clark presented his collection at the Musée du Louvre, 1940s-inspired and beautifully tailored. Sadly, this promising collaboration ended there as the designer failed to attend further appointments.
BLACK MAGIC
Enthralled by the energy and showmanship of rock music, Clark was the first designer to fuse music and fashion, even naming dresses after songs of the day including 'Midnight Rambler' and 'Ziggy Stardust'. The fusion came to life vividly in Quorum's legendary fashion shows,
'carnivalesque' events that attracted the London glitterati. Clark would be sewing and putting finishing touches right up to the last minute, staying up the night before the show recording the latest music.
In 1968 the Revolution Club in Mayfair provided the venue, the audience packed with famous faces. Pattie Boyd wore a cream dress with a blue bird print and irritated her husband, George Harrison, by going braless. The Chelsea Town Hall show the following year, with an audience of 'Beautiful People', was reported on a Pathé Newsreel.
These groundbreaking spectacles reinforced Clark and Birtwell's reputation as the ultimate fashion duo. Unusually for the time, Clark's shows included both dark- and pale-skinned models, many of them from the designer's own social circle. The abandon of the models moving languidly, often high on marijuana, seemed to embody the freedom and sexiness of Clark and Birtwell's diaphanous creations.
The Royal Court Theatre show in May 1971 surpassed all others with a delayed start time of 2.30am. The invitation featured Art Deco graphics and 1930s' and 1940s' pin-ups, and Clark demanded that a box of Black Magic chocolates be left on every seat. He even became part of the performance framed behind a gauze curtain with the lights dimmed, a cigarette in his hand, dressing the models before they sashayed onto the stage.
JUMPIN' JACK FLASH
Being backstage at one of Clark's shows was like being at the best party in London with all the most beautiful people. (David Hockney speaking in Jack Hazan's documentary, A Bigger Splash (1974), Screenbound Pictures)
Quorum rapidly graduated from being simply a boutique to becoming a meeting place for celebrities and rock stars to hang out while Clark cut and stitched in the background. By 1968 three Rolling Stones - Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones - were all living in Chelsea and frequent visitors to the trendy shop.
Jones lived intermittently above Quorum in Radnor Walk and would order dozens of floral shirts. He wore a satin shirt in Birtwell's 'Thunderstorm' print accessorised with one of her scarves on the cover of the Stones' record 'Jumpin' Jack Flash', released in 1968, while Richards, introduced to Quorum by his bandmate, wore an Clark leather jacket. Clark and Birtwell's chiffon shirts proved popular with many a rock star including Jimi Hendrix, worn with tight satin trousers made from a stash of pre-war corset satin found by Alice Pollock.
Jagger was brought into Quorum by his girlfriend Marianne Faithfull, who recognised that he and Clark were kindred spirits. The rock star had a vision of the stage image he wanted and Clark was able to bring that to life with his designs, tight jumpsuits in Lycra and other fabrics including satin, velvet and leather that allowed the energetic rock star to move around the stage.
The designer accompanied the Stones on their American Sympathy for the Devil Tour in 1969.
On 14 July 1972, Jagger graced the cover of Life magazine in a white velvet jumpsuit open to the waist, embellished with silver eyelets and sequins and tied at the hips with a red sash.
CHANGING TIMES
While Clark had been centre stage in the 1960s, the '70s proved more complicated for the hedonistic and sensitive designer as Britain faced a recession and fashion was shifting in a new direction. The international press decreed 1974 'the black year of fashion' as it witnessed the disintegration of couture. However, with the help of a new business manager and financial backer, Clark's ties with Radley were severed and the designer had his own company, Ossie Clark Ltd - and a new shop on the Fulham Road.
Clark spent 1977 and 1978 enjoying a revival and a collection of jersey garments in the late 1970s including dresses and jumpsuits that chimed with the times, giving more than a hint of Studio 54 glamour. Clark's talent and expertise is immediately visible in the sensual draping and tailoring of the fabric that flatters and highlights the body.
Despite its high profile and critical success, however, Ossie Clark Ltd did not prove financially successful and Clark found himself once again in an emotional and financial mess. In 1980 his business was sold to a company called Mak and there were plans for a big show in New York that sadly never materialised. Instead, in September
1980 Clark travelled to New York to spend a glamorous week in the Big Apple visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art and lunching and dining with his rock-star friend Mick Jagger and his partner Jerry Hall, together with their entourage.
With a new business manager, Tony Calder, and a new financial backer, Peter Lee, Ossie Clark Ltd was established in 1977 and Clark enjoyed a brief revival. The sensual draping of the designer's jersey pieces showcases his skill in consistently creating flattering garments that both highlight and flatter the body. The clinging jersey dresses allowed movement for dancing and added a sensual allure. These pieces would not have looked out of place on the dance floor of the iconic club Studio 54, which opened in New York in 1977 attracting celebrities including Bianca Jagger.
THE END OF AN ERA
In 1974 the opening of Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's provocative shop Sex on the King's Road, selling fetish and bondage clothing, confirmed the end of an era. When Mick Jagger tried to enter, he allegedly had the door slammed in his face: a blatant gesture of defiance to the old order.
Clark's distinctive look and romanticism did not chime with the times. Customers' tastes had changed, jobs became increasingly sporadic and debts accumulated. Clark no longer shared the media spotlight with the rock stars whose lifestyles he envied. This affected him badly, as much as his financial and emotional difficulties.
Meanwhile, Birtwell, who had stepped back to bring up their sons, reinvented herself, teaching and then starting an interiors business selling her designs through her shop in Notting Hill.
Clark's sudden death was tragic not only in its manner - stabbed in his own home - but also because it came just before a resurgence of interest in the designer's work following a retrospective at the Warrington Museum and Art Gallery in 1999 and the Ossie Clark at the
V&A exhibition in 2003. The success of Birtwell's 2006 collaboration with Topshop confirmed the renewed popularity of the couple's designs - fashion icon Kate Moss was seen out and about wearing Birtwell's prints and donned a vintage 'Ossie' for her wedding celebrations in 2011.
Today, Clark and Birtwell's influence lives on in the work of other designers including Marc Jacobs, Prada, Ghost, Gucci and Anna Sui.
Birtwell's sell-out capsule collection for Topshop in 2006 introduced a new generation to her beautiful prints. Vanessa Denza, fashion buyer and recruitment consultant, and the first to recognise Ossie Clark's talents, put forward Birtwell's name as a potential collaborator to the brand director Jane Shepherdson, who was immediately excited by the idea. The collaboration was a huge success, with Birtwell and the buyers working closely together. Reviving such archive prints as 'Mystic Daisy', Birtwell created a feminine, sexy and colourful collection of dresses and blouses in her trademark fabrics: silk, georgette and voile. Topshop's instinctive understanding that her prints would appeal to the Noughties generation was proved right by the success of her inexpensive designs launched in 2006 - Topshop's flagship store sold out immediately. Twenty years later, Birtwell's designs for Topshop are still highly sought-after on online platforms.
EPILOGUE
l loved the combination of Ossie and Celia. They were so talented and wonderful, a match made in heaven. Ossie was the only person I did catwalk shows for because he had the ability to cut clothes that were the most fabulous, very new, modern, naughty, chic and sexy, all at the same time. (Pattie Boyd, interview with the author, 20 May 2026)
The creative relationship of Ossie Clark and Celia Birtwell resulted in a synthesis of him and her: of exuberance and serenity, of northern origins and London action, of The Great Gatsby and the Rolling Stones. Clark's designs reflect his mercurial spirit, encapsulating the elusive element of desire. Birtwell contributed a discipline to the process and an expertise with fabric, her sense of colour and originality bringing the garments alive. Together, the symbiosis was electric, further inspired by their circle of friends and contemporaries. To wear a Clark dress is to experience that magic.
The collection in this exhibition is part of C20
Vintage Fashion, a lifelong project of Cleo and Mark Butterfield. In a synergy that mirrors the working partnership of Clark and Birtwell, Cleo and her husband Mark share a vision: For me he was genius with cut, for Mark it was the rock and roll. Ossie sums up that freedom and rebelliousness and we were amazed by the inventiveness of Celia's prints, and the idea of them knowing Hockney and being in that world.
Ossie and Celia perfectly represent the spirit of the time. (Cleo Butterfield, interview with the author, 20 May 2026)
A NEW CHAPTER FOR CELIA
Celia Birtwell's exquisite prints have won her international critical acclaim, making her one of the leading textile designers of her generation. In
2011 Birtwell was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Honours List for her outstanding contribution to fashion.
Following the breakdown of her relationship with Ossie Clark, Birtwell left the fashion industry to raise her children, teaching textile design at a number of colleges including Chelsea School of Art. She continued to be sketched and painted by David Hockney and it was with his help and encouragement that she started designing again in 1984, moving her focus to home textiles.
Keen to have complete control of her designs, Birtwell opened a shop in Notting Hill and quickly established herself in the world of interiors. Her shop, an 'Aladdin's cave' of treasures, housed her huge archive and attracted a distinguished clientele.
Heraldic beasts, neoclassical motifs with unexpected Surrealist overtones, a vibrant witty take on traditional chintz and enchanting florals, Birtwell's textile designs draw inspiration from life around her, the beauty of nature and the world of art.
Birtwell's fabrics adorn many prestigious international hotels including Claridge's, and renowned retailers such as Liberty, Harvey Nichols and Conran have stocked her ranges.
Birtwell stepped back from managing the business in 2006, handing over the reins to her son George and daughter-in-law Bella who grew the brand until it closed in 2012, while Celia continued to undertake new projects.
Birtwell's deep understanding of visual history and culture has remained a constant throughout her work as demonstrated in her 2015 collaboration with Valentino. Taking inspiration from Botticelli's La Primavera, created in the late fifteenth century, Birtwell produced intricate pieces reminiscent of her earlier work but completely contemporary in spirit.
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What I take away from this exhibition, above all, is the extraordinary relationship between textile and fashion design. A print is never simply a pattern on a piece of cloth. In the hands of someone like Celia Birtwell, it becomes part of a much bigger creative story, influencing shape, movement, mood and the way we experience a garment.
For me, that is the enduring magic of Ossie and Celia. Their work reminds us that great design is not necessarily about following trends, but about developing a distinctive visual language and having the confidence to stay true to it.
Celia's prints continue to inspire me, both as a textile designer and through my love of fabrics, pattern and interiors. Decades on, their partnership remains a wonderful reminder of the creative possibilities that happen when two complementary talents come together.
A truly lovely exhibition, and a very special return to a building that holds so many memories for me.
