Born: Liverpool, England, 1942
Died: London, England, 1996

A genius cutter and constructor of clothes, Ossie Clark was the 1960s’ wunderkind with all the essential ingredients: good looks, an extraordinary eye, an enormous ego and a talent to amuse. His bons mots littered the fashion pages of the 1960s and 1970s. The little black dress he christened ‘a history of nice times’.

Ossie’s ambiguous sexuality and instinctive feel for the female anatomy was at the core of his unique talent. He remains one of the few male fashion designers of the century who instinctively understood how women’s bodies actually worked. ‘His clothes were never vulgar,’ said his ex-wife, textile designer Celia Birtwell, who he dressed during her two pregnancies with their sons Albert and George, ‘I think he had respect for women. They were his goddesses.’

Ossie Clark was the product of a poor working-class family – the youngest of six children, who were evacuated to Oswaldtwistle during the Second World War. Encouraged by a schoolteacher who brought in glossy magazines, Ossie studied building, geometry and construction at Warrington Technical College, and in 1957 attended the Regional College of Art in Manchester. An outstanding talent, he secured a scholarship at London’s Royal College of Art and emerged in 1965 with a first-class honours degree and a full page in Vogue. His final college collection featured graphic fabric, acquired during a drive across America with David Hockney in the summer of 1964.

A collaboration with Alice Pollock of Quorum in Chelsea’s Radnor Walk catapulted Ossie Clark onto centre stage. Soon he was at the epicentre of the swinging sixties – friends included Patrick Procktor, David Hockney and Jimi Hendrix. Cecil Beaton attended his shows – along with London’s glitterati. In 1966 Ossie married Celia Birtwell, who he met while she was teaching at Salford School of Art.

The magical meeting of Celia’s textiles and Ossie’s cutting created some of the most beautiful dresses of the decade – with plunging necklines, flowing sleeves and ethereal silhouettes. This was sensual perfection for the beautiful people. ‘Ossie Clark’s collection was a fantasy of the finest silks, cut velvet and dotted chiffon,’ reported Vogue in 1971. ‘The French were amazed and amused by the crazy glamour of Gala Mitchell, Ossie’s London girl.’

The 1970s were not easy for Clark: there were a series of comebacks, divorce from Celia in 1973 and legal wranglings in the bankruptcy courts. By the 1990s he had dropped out of the industry; he became a Buddhist and made occasional one-offs for private clients. Despite his premature demise, and tragic death at the age of 54, Clark’s legacy of extraordinary dresses remains. ‘I don’t care how much anything costs as long as it’s beautiful,’ he told The Sunday Times in 1970. A heartfelt sentiment which characterizes many of the century’s most brilliantly talented designers.

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