Ossie Clark

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Raymond "Ossie" Clark (born 1946 – 6 August 1996), an English fashion designer who was a major figure in the London and New York fashion industry during that period.

Clark is now known for his vintage work by current-day designers. Clark is compared to the 1960s fashion legend Biba, and influenced many other designers, including Yves Saint Laurent, Anna Sui, and Tom Ford.

"He made an incredible magic with the body and achieved what fashion should do—produce desire," Manolo Blahnik said of Ossie Clark's work: "He created an amazing magic with the body and created what fashion should do—produce desire." After popular models such as Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, Ossie Clark and Ossie Clark for Radley clothing are highly coveted.

Childhood and education

Ossie Clark was born in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, England, on June 9th, 1942, to Anne and Samuel Clark. The Clark family lived in Warrington, where they were given the name "Ossie" during the war. Anne Grace Clark, Ossie's mother, was in labour with Ossie for seven days after an air raid in the Second World War. Anne had been expecting a child but had no name for her new baby boyaa. She permitted Raymond to be the midwife's name. Ossie was the youngest of six children (Gladys, Kay, Beryl, Sammy, and John). At St Oswald's Church in Winwick, where Ossie and his brother John sang in the choir.

From an early age, family and friends said he was "brilliant at doing anything." Young Ossie would make clothes for his nieces and nephews. He made tailoring clothing for his dolls and created swimsuits for the neighborhood children when they were not even ten years old. Roy Thomas, the art instructor at Ossie's secondary school, was inspired by Ossie's inventive flair and gifted him with a large number of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar magazines. Clark sprang over these magazines and absorbed the glamour and cutting edge fashion.

Ossie studied architecture in school at the age of 13. Later, he said that the experience was "invaluable." The class taught him the fundamentals of proportion, height, and volume. He'd later continue to use all of these items in his fashion designs to great advantage.

Clark, who left Beamont Secondary Technical School, enrolled in Manchester's Regional College of Art at the age of 16. In the morning, Ossie had to rise early to make the long ride from home to college each day. Anne Clark will keep Ossie's medications up and alert. This will be the start of a lifelong addiction to both prescription and illegal drugs.

Clark was introduced to Celia Birtwell by a close friend and classmate named Mo McDermott while attending college in Manchester. Both friends were just good friends at first, but soon, the relationship turned into a passion affair. During this time, Ossie became good friends with artist David Hockney. Clark and Hockney joined in New York City as a student where they made many useful connections in the fashion, art, and entertainment industries. The two friends are widely believed to have been partners in a turbulent relationship. Clark graduated from the Regional College of Art in 1958.

Clark obtained a first-class degree in 1965 at the Royal College of Art in London. Celia Birtwell came to live with Ossie in his tiny Notting Hill flat when attending college in London. The degree fashion show at the RCA was a huge success. Pop art and Hollywood glamour heavily inspired his design style at this time. The final line-up featured a flashing lightbulbs down the front, which was on display in every major newspaper and fashion magazine the following day. The fashion press flooded Ossie with calls for photoshoots and special order garments. He made his first appearance in British Vogue in August of this year. The first store in London's Sloane Street to begin offering Ossie Clark's clothing was 'Woollands 21'.

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Early career

Clark made his name in the fashion industry, with Alice Pollock's exclusive boutique Quorum showcasing his creations in 1966. Clark had been shown by Quorum's backer at the behest of Hockney and so taken with the young designer that she immediately decided to bring him in as co designer for Quorum. Ossie introduced a line of white and cream chiffon garments that quickly sold out. Clark's clothes needed a more natural feel, so Pollock retained Celia Birtwell to create unique textiles for the forthcoming collection. Clark created clothing and Birtwell designed prints in this way, making one of fashion's most popular collaborations come to life.

Clark's fashion career was not the end of his career. "Celia collaborated with Ossie," author Judith Watt says. This was a joint effort. People believe she was his muse, and she was indeed, but their jobs went hand in hand. He created his own from her plans. I think it's unfair that she not be given the opportunity to speak out.

Ossie was known from this time to purchase six new record albums in a week, all from the newest and most well-known recording artists. Among Ossie's friends, his obsession with music and art was legendary. At this time, Ossie and her friend and business partner Alice Pollock began to take hard drugs more regularly. Lady Henrietta Rous, a long-time acquaintance, says, "this is when his character began to change."

The Henri Bendel department store in New York acquired the first complete Ossie Clark collection. The designers on Seventh Avenue were influenced by his simple, elegant dresses.

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