Uniqlo teams up with Celia Birtwell for new collaboration

Set to launch this spring, Uniqlo has reinvigorated a range of classic prints by textiles legend Celia Birtwell.

Uniqlo has taken a selection of Birtwell’s archive prints, which were re-imagined, re-scaled, re-worked and re-colored, as a new line of T-shirts, tunic vests, shirts, jeggings, pyjama pants, culottes, tote bags and stoles. Priced from €12 upwards, the collection will launch in Uniqlo stores on March 21, combining British heritage with modern Japanese global style.

Born in Salford in 1941, Celia Birtwell was one of the biggest stars of the fashion scene in the ‘Swinging London’ of the 1960s. The textile designer collaborated frequently with fashion designer Ossie Clark (whom she later married), and the pair became iconic figures, sitting for a famous portrait by David Hockney titled “Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy.”

Birtwell later ducked out of the fashion world to focus on her home textiles business, although in 2006 she reemerged for a sell-out collection with Topshop.