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Celia Birtwell and Ossie Clark's was an almost perfect marriage of style, and their work together helped define the era. The collaboration began with a 1966 collection for the ''Quorum'' boutique in London, which they shared with the designer
How we get dressed, the Guardian
BBC British Style Genius series, Style Icon
Celia Birtwell 2006 collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birtwell, Celia 1941 births Living people British textile designers English fashion designers British women fashion designers People from Salford Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Date of birth missing (living people) People from Bury, Greater Manchester Muses
Celia Birtwell,
The eldest of three children (all girls) born to a culture-loving engineer and a seamstress, Birtwell was born in
television's '' Inside Out North West'' in January 2014, Birtwell remembered attending parties and life classes with nude models on the top floor of the Technical College (pictured) and often seeing artist CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(born 1941), is a British textile designer and fashion designer, known for her distinctive bold, romantic and feminine designs, which are influenced by Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
and Matisse
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...
, and the classical world. She was well known for her prints which epitomised the 1960s/70s. After a period away from the limelight, she returned to fashion in the early 21st century.
Early life
The eldest of three children (all girls) born to a culture-loving engineer and a seamstress, Birtwell was born in Bury
Bury may refer to:
*The burial of human remains
*-bury, a suffix in English placenames
Places England
* Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village
* Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire
** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
and raised in Prestwich, both then in Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
. From the age of 13 she studied textile design at the Royal Technical College, Salford. In an interview for BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...L.S. Lowry
Laurence Stephen Lowry ( ; 1 November 1887 – 23 February 1976) was an English artist. His drawings and paintings mainly depict Pendlebury, Lancashire (where he lived and worked for more than 40 years) as well as Salford and its vicinity ...
, a former student who often visited the college and the adjacent Salford Library. In 1959 she met the fashion designer Ossie Clark
Raymond "Ossie" Clark (9 June 1942 – 6 August 1996) was a British fashion designer who was a major figure in the Swinging Sixties scene in London and the fashion industry in that era. Clark is now renowned for his vintage designs by present- ...
in the Cona Coffee Bar in Manchester, and they married in 1969 after being reintroduced when they both studied in London.
Ossie Clark
Celia Birtwell and Ossie Clark's was an almost perfect marriage of style, and their work together helped define the era. The collaboration began with a 1966 collection for the ''Quorum'' boutique in London, which they shared with the designer Alice Pollock
Alice Pollock (born 1942) is a British fashion designer and retailer who founded the boutique ''Quorum'', which featured the work of fellow designers Ossie Clark and Celia Birtwell, and later started the male modelling agency ''English Boy'' in ...
. It was the Clarks who began the modern catwalk show: the previous procession of modelled clothes was put to music, the London glitterati were invited, and the shows became events.
He was a genius, better than Yves Saint Laurent. His cut – although he lifted it from the 1930s, he had his own take on it – even plump women felt pretty in. He didn't dress just the slimmest, which is always easier. I thought his garments were wonderful. I used to see heirconstruction and the way he'd get excited about how he'd put a new sleeve in. He was a real artist. – Celia BirtwellBirtwell worked at home designing textiles for Clark, who would use his skill in cutting and understanding of form, together with her knowledge of fabrics and textures to produce haute couture for the 1960s culture. This included work for the
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
and Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...
, Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
and Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
, as well as Pattie Boyd
Patricia Anne Boyd (born 17 March 1944) is an English model and photographer. She was one of the leading international models during the 1960s and, with Jean Shrimpton, epitomised the British female look of the era. Boyd married George Harri ...
, Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...
, Bianca Jagger
Bianca Jagger (born Blanca Pérez-Mora Macías; 2 May 1945)
, Verushka, Paloma Picasso
Paloma Picasso (born Anne Paloma Ruiz-Picasso y Gilot on 19 April 1949) is a French and Spanish fashion designer and businesswoman, best known for her jewelry designs for Tiffany & Co, and her signature perfumes. She is the daughter of artist P ...
, Talitha Getty
Talitha Dina Getty (; 18 October 1940 – 11 July 1971) was a Dutch actress, socialite, and model who was regarded as a style icon of the late 1960s. She lived much of her adult life in Britain and, in her final years, was closely associated w ...
and numerous other celebrities.
Family
Celia and Ossie had two children together, Albert (born 1969) and George (born 1971), but their private relationship deteriorated and they divorced in 1974.David Hockney
She has been a muse for the painterDavid Hockney
David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...
since 1968, and features in many of his paintings including ''Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy
''Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy'' is a painting by the British artist David Hockney. Painted between 1970 and 1971, it depicts the fashion designer Ossie Clark and the textile designer Celia Birtwell in their flat in Notting Hill Gate shortly a ...
'' (1970–71), one of Hockney's most celebrated and one of the most viewed paintings in the Tate Britain
Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...
gallery. In 2005, it featured on the ''Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now''
* Current era, present
* The current calendar date
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...
'' programme's shortlist of the '' Greatest Painting in Britain''. She appears in the 1974 Hockney biopic, '' A Bigger Splash'', and the 1978 BBC documentary ''Seeing Through Drawing'' produced by Mike Dibb
Mike Dibb (born Wharfedale, Bradford, West Yorkshire, 29 April 1940) is an English documentary filmmaker. In almost half a century of making films mainly for television – on subjects including cinema, literature, art, jazz, sport and popular cu ...
.
Interiors and furnishing fabric
After the break-up of her marriage, Birtwell continued in fashion, designing for the Radley label for a time, until in 1984 she set up a shop on Westbourne Park Road in Bayswater, selling fabrics for the home. Again she built up a reputation for innovative and witty design. Her first success came with her own take on a 16th-century animal print she called 'Animal Solo', followed later by the first, and much copied, white on whitevoile
Voile is a soft, sheer fabric, usually made of 99% cotton or cotton blended with linen or polyester. The term is French for ''veil''. Because of its light weight, the fabric is mostly used in soft furnishing. In tropical climates, voile is used ...
and muslin
Muslin () is a cotton fabric of plain weave. It is made in a wide range of weights from delicate sheers to coarse sheeting. It gets its name from the city of Mosul, Iraq, where it was first manufactured.
Muslin of uncommonly delicate handsp ...
fabrics. These fabrics are now to be seen in many homes, hotels and public spaces, including Claridge's
Claridge's is a 5-star hotel at the corner of Brook Street and Davies Street in Mayfair, London. It has long-standing connections with royalty that have led to it sometimes being referred to as an "annexe to Buckingham Palace". Claridge's Hot ...
and The Lanesborough
The Lanesborough is a 5-star hotel on Hyde Park Corner in Knightsbridge, central London, England. The hotel is operated by the Oetker Collection. It is in neoclassical style and is listed Grade II*.
Opposite are Hyde Park and Apsley House, th ...
hotels in London, The Grand Hotel, Leeds, and the Dubai Hilton.
Recent work
Birtwell produced designs for French fashion houseCacharel
Jean Cacharel SA () is a French company of ready-to-wear clothing, perfume and accessories, founded in 1958 by Jean Bousquet. Cacharel designs are characterized by their youthful style, femininity, lightness, refinement, and use of bright colours ...
while it was under the design direction of Suzanne Clements and Inacio Ribeiro. In 2005, it was announced that she would design clothing for the high street chain Topshop
TOPSHOP (originally Top Shop) is a British fashion brand for women's clothing, shoes and accessories. It was part of the Arcadia Group, controlled by Sir Philip Green, but went into administration in late 2020 before being purchased by ASOS o ...
, beginning with Spring/Summer 2006. The four collections were a sell-out success. In April 2008, Birthwell designed a limited collection for American fashion retailer Express. In 2008, Millets
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets als ...
launched a camping and outdoor footwear and clothing range which she had designed. New lines were added to the range for Summer 2009. In 2010, she created a 25-piece collection for John Lewis
John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...
.
Her book ''Celia Birtwell'', written with Dominic Lutyens, featuring photographs, fashion sketches and memoir, was published by Quadrille in 2011. 250 limited edition fabric covered box sets which included a signed copy of her book, and an exclusive silk scarf, were also produced.
Birtwell was the castaway on ''Desert Island Discs
''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942.
Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usu ...
'' on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
on Sunday 7 October 2012.
Honours
She was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(CBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours.
References
External links
* *How we get dressed, the Guardian
BBC British Style Genius series, Style Icon
Celia Birtwell 2006 collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birtwell, Celia 1941 births Living people British textile designers English fashion designers British women fashion designers People from Salford Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Date of birth missing (living people) People from Bury, Greater Manchester Muses