Synopses & Reviews
DESCRIPTION (longer copy)In 1965, Ossie Clark burst upon the fashion scene, designing for Alice Pollock's shop Quorum, which became a key venue for the leaders of style in 1960s London. Clark rejected the boxy miniskirts and hard triangular shapes favored by Mary Quant. Instead his inspiration came from the 1930s and 1940s and, working with his fabric-designer girlfriend - and later wife - Celia Birtwell, his brilliant cutting combined with her extraordinary prints to produce innovative and sexy outfits that paid cheeky homage to Art Deco and Hollywood glamour. His floating chiffons and bias-cut crepes were worn by models and celebrities, photographed in Vogue and quickly exported to the USA, where Henri Bendel bought the first Quorum collection. Marianne Faithfull introduced Ossie to Mick Jagger, for whom he created his famous jumpsuits while for Bianca Jagger he made dresses in white silk, and for Eartha Kitt a snakeskin miniskirt with matching underwear. In his own words a "master cutter, " he was a celebrity in his own right, numbering among his friends David Hockney (he and Birtwell are the subjects of a very famous Hockney portrait), Patrick Proctor, and George Harrison. Ossie was a designers' designer, constantly creative, making clothes that enhanced the body and made women feel fabulous. His legacy can still be seen today in the work of major designers.
Synopsis
This is the first book to focus exclusively on the work of fashion designer Ossie Clark (1942-1996), a key figure in the style and fashion worlds of London in the swinging '60s. Clark created jumpsuits for Mick Jagger, silk dresses for Bianca Jagger, and snakeskin outfits for Eartha Kitt, and is the subject of a famous portrait by David Hockney. The fusion of his brilliant cutting with the extraordinary prints created by his wife, textile designer Celia Birtwell, resulted in designs that paid witty homage to Art Deco and Hollywood galmour. Author Judith Watt has interviewed models, friends, and colleagues from the 1960s--and has unearthed exclusive audio archives featuring Ossie Clark himself--to create this unprecedented portrait of a major figure in modern fashion. The illustrations include Vogue fashion shoots (including images by such famous photographers as David Bailey), portraits, documentary photographs, wonderful unpublished sketches owned by Birtwell, and stunning new photographs of iconic outfits. Published to accompany a major retrospective exhibition, this book will bring new admirers to the work of a man whose continuing influence can be seen in the work of John Galliano, Gucci, Prada, and other major designers.
About the Author
Judith Watt combines teaching at Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design, London, with writing. She has contributed to a number of books on contemporary fashion and writes regularly for Vogue, Harpers and Queen, and The Guardian.