Bowie’s mystery guest is often identified as Ossie Clark. Was he really the one swigging champagne with David Bowie at the Café Royal on the 3rd of July 1973?
Ossie Clark was a British fashion designer and an influential person in the heady days of London’s 60s scene. However, I have never been satisfied that David Bowie and Ossie Clark were within each other’s social circles.
Clark was born in June 1942, studying in Manchester before attending the Royal College of Art in London. He graduated, with first class honours, in 1965, appearing in British Vogue later that year. This success is a stark contrast to 18-year-old David Jones, who was enduring limited success with The Manish Boys and The Lower Third.
The main man?
Late 60s London had dubbed Clark as The King of King’s Road and had an endless register of celebrity clients. Although Clark proclaimed himself as a ‘master cutter’, his business acumen was far less successful. Garments were being given away or disappearing off the shelves. It forced him to sell his boutique, Quorum, brand to Radley, who could see the talent Clark possessed. Radley took on his debts, giving Clark a platform to become a star.
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Did Clark and Bowie meet?
I’m sure they did at some point, but I’ve read no account of a collaboration. By the time David Bowie was Ziggy Stardust, a team headed by Freddie Burretti satisfied his sartorial needs, and Clark’s career and personal life were enduring a rocky patch.
Googling for David Bowie and Ossie Clark will bring up many results, but mainly linking them with Ziggy’s Last Supper.
Sadly, Clark died in 1996, so we’ll never get a first-hand account from him. What is clear is that photos of Clark from July 1973 prove that he looks nothing like Bowie’s Mystery Guest.
Is Ossie Clark, Bowie’s Mystery Guest?
No. All the evidence suggests that they never worked together and, more tellingly, Ossie Clark looked nothing like the man in the photo.
However, if you know different, then please let me know.
