Ossie Clark + Celia Birtwell exhibition, London: tickets and hours

The Fashion and Textile Museum, founded in 2003 by Zandra Rhodes, is devoting its autumn and winter season to a duo inseparable from 1960s London. The exhibition brings together Ossie Clark’s cutting and Celia Birtwell’s prints, presented as a single language. Here is what you will see, what a visit costs and how to plan it, with information checked on 15 November 2026.

A master pattern cutter and a print designer

The museum describes Ossie Clark as a legendary fashion designer whose glamorous rock-and-roll designs made him one of the most influential figures in London in the 1960s and early 1970s. Above all it stresses his skill as a pattern cutter and his innate understanding of fit and form. The Victoria and Albert Museum, which holds several of his pieces, notes that he graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1965 and was best known for his printed chiffon dresses.

The prints are the work of Celia Birtwell, the designer’s collaborator and later his wife. Romantic and playful, they draw, according to the museum, on the Ballets Russes and Art Deco. Clark used her fabrics for almost all his clothes, notes a V&A catalogue entry, which also calls trousers a hallmark of his work, reworked throughout his career.

Quorum, the boutique that opened in 1964

The story runs through a Chelsea boutique. Alice Pollock opened Quorum in 1964 on Radnor Walk, just off King’s Road, and Ossie Clark designed for it from the mid-1960s. There Pollock, Clark and Birtwell formed a studio whose designs are recognisable by their fluid crêpe, satin and chiffon. In 1968 the business was sold to the wholesaler Radley Fashions, which adapted Clark’s designs for a wider market.

Among Celia Birtwell’s most popular motifs, according to the V&A, is a print mixing hearts, feathers and poppies, seen on a 1970-1971 evening dress at the V&A. The couple were also painted by David Hockney: Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy, dated 1970-1971, is in the Tate collection.

What the Bermondsey show displays

The exhibition draws on a private collection of Ossie Clark’s designs covering his whole career, from early work to his later collections. The accompanying book draws on the C20 Vintage Fashion collection. In the galleries, the printed dresses are staged on plinths and in display cases, alongside sketches and archive footage. The poster uses a fashion photograph taken by Celia Birtwell herself.

Tickets at €15.14 with donation, free under 12

The museum has no permanent collection: every exhibition requires a ticket, bookable online or on the day at the museum, subject to availability. The full adult price, for those aged 26 and over, is about 15.14 euros (12.65 pounds) including a 10% donation to the museum, or about 13.76 euros (11.50 pounds) without. Visitors aged 18 to 25 pay about 13.82 euros (11.55 pounds), students and 12 to 17-year-olds about 12.51 euros (10.45 pounds), donations included. Art Fund members get half the full price, and entry is free for under-12s and for the carer of a disabled visitor. Conversions at the ECB rate of 13 November 2026 (1 euro to 0.83559 pounds).

Guided tours on Wednesdays at 3pm

Highlights tours led by volunteer guides take place every Wednesday at 3pm until 23 December 2026. They are free with an exhibition ticket, last about 45 minutes and take no more than 15 people. The museum asks visitors to arrive within 20 minutes of their booked time, not before, and allows no food or drink other than bottled water.

Two curators and a book

The show is curated by Teresa Collenette, a design historian trained on the V&A and Royal College of Art master’s programme who has worked on several of the museum’s exhibitions, and Dennis Nothdruft, head of exhibitions since the museum opened in 2003. The book, published on 2 October 2026, brings together essays, rare sketches and archive photography. For more, see our guide to Pradasphere in Milan, the exhibition from Marie Antoinette to Vivienne Westwood and Manolo Blahnik’s London addresses.

Information checked on 15 November 2026. Sources: Fashion and Textile Museum, exhibition page, museum ticket prices, Victoria and Albert Museum collections, Tate.