Celia Birtwell reflects on her creative partnership and marriage with fashion designer Ossie Clark as a new exhibition revisits their work and influence on 1960s and 70s London style. Birtwell designed the distinctive botanical fabrics that Clark turned into flowing, bias-cut dresses, worn by prominent figures and celebrated in David Hockney’s portrait of the couple.

They married in 1969, separated in 1974, and Birtwell recalls their early years fondly, while describing how Clark’s partying became overwhelming; he later struggled with addiction and bankruptcy and was murdered aged 54. Now 85, she continues to work in fashion, including co-designing Burberry’s latest catwalk collection, and mourns Hockney, who died in June after a decades-long friendship. The exhibition opens at London’s Fashion and Textile Museum on 2 October.