North STAR

RENOWNED DESIGNER CELIA BIRTWELL COMES FULL CIRCLE

- DIANNE BOURNE

IT IS 62 years since the 21-year-old Celia Birtwell left her home in Prestwich to start a new life in London – a move that would set into motion becoming a cultural icon.

Textile designer Celia would go on to become one of THE ‘It couples’ of the swinging 60s alongside her fashion designer husband Ossie Clark.

But the roots of the couple’s ingenuity were firmly planted in the north. They first met as art students in Manchester – “I first met Ossie at The Conar coffee bar on Albert Square,” Celia recalls.

But it was when both had left Manchester for London that they would go on to unite as a couple, and become a northern powerhouse in the capital. Although she admits they initially had to fight back against stereotypes as ‘the northerners’.

Celia remembers from those early days in London: “I always felt like a northerner, like the northerners have hit town. It was in slightly sort of derogratory terms about ‘you northerners’ – but I used to think: ‘I don’t care what you think, we’re all right, we’re not just the northerners’.”

Ossie, real name Raymond but nicknamed due to his hometown of Oswadtwistle in Lancashire, had gone to London to train at the Royal College of Arts, while Celia had completed her training at Salford Arts School.

She says: “I always felt like others felt superior. But as time went on and Ossie and I worked together, that all changed completely because then we were accepted, and also a lot of groups had started by then, The Beatles were from the north, all sorts of people had come out of the woodwork and we were actually ok.”

So it feels almost a full circle moment for the 83-year-old Celia to have unveiled her newest design collaboration – forged in the north. She has been working with Manchester online fashion firm Joanie Clothing on a capsule collection of vintage-inspired flowing dresses and blouses featuring her signature colourful prints.