British fashion designer Zandra Rhodes
“I am a textile designer who couldn’t find a job,” says Dame Zandra Rhodes, her iconic pink bob walking its way through 50 of her most fabulous creations, one for each year her eponymous fashion house has existed. She’s referring to her tenacity in carving a creative career for herself and the obstacles which led her to found the brand we’re toasting today.
The artistic prints, electric colors and floating chiffons she has become known for are on display in a new exhibition recently opened at London’s Fashion and Textile Museum.
Rhodes may not be the most buzzed about name at London Fashion Week anymore but her name is etched in fashion history books and her studio is still in business. Though the studio operates in a much smaller capacity, mostly private sales and an exclusive line for department store Liberty, celebrating 50 years in the business is something most fresh-faced fashion graduates could only dream of.
“The main thing is how to keep going,” the 79-year-old says of her experience surviving five decades of trends. “One minute you’re the in thing and the next you’re not. If you’re in fashion, it’s going to go up and down.”
Zandra Rhodes: 50 Years of Fabulous exhibition at London's Fashion and Textile Museum.
Rhodes set up her label in 1969. She graduated in printed textiles from London’s Royal College of Art but struggled to get orders from manufacturers who told her that her designs were “too extreme” for their commercial clients. After a period of selling direct to fashion designers with a more creative outlook, she decided to create the prints and the garments herself. “I looked at the fashion designers and they didn’t seem much smarter than me so I thought I’d give it a go,” she jokes.
Initially it was hard for Rhodes to break out of being pigeonholed as a textile designer but she found particular success in the U.S. where her reputation wasn’t so well attached to her name.
At the height of her fame in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, Rhodes’ designs were spotted on Elizabeth Taylor, Jacqueline Kennedy and Cher. One of the highlights of the exhibition is a pink, off-the-shoulder dress once worn by Princess Diana.
Freddie Mercury wearing a white cape designed by Zandra Rhodes
The dramatic flair of her clothing has lent itself perfectly to the stage too. The exhibition houses a replica of the white satin pleated cape worn by Freddie Mercury which was used in the film Bohemian Rhapsody and the ensemble worn by Barbara Streisand for her Hyde Park performance in July. She has also created numerous outfits for opera performances, a particular joy for Rhodes who gleams, “I like making someone who is a size 18 (US size 22) feel like a fairy princess.”
While a few pieces perfectly encapsulate moments in time, particularly from her era as the “Princess of Punk” which saw her take the subculture into high fashion and popularize embellished safety pins, one of the most striking things about the exhibition is how timeless the garments are. Its testament to a strong creative vision and the building of a brand that has set trends rather than followed them.
The Fashion and Textile Museum is also part of what makes this exhibition special as it was founded by Rhodes in 2003. “Zandra Rhodes: 50 Years of Fabulous” runs until January 26, 2020, but her legacy will always be present in London through her gift to the city’s fashion scene.
The designer lives in a penthouse above the museum and the building’s bright yellow and pink exterior is as hard to miss—just like her bold prints. It looks somewhat surreal among the grey, Victorian terraces of the Bermondsey neighborhood; the perfect metaphor for Rhodes’ work which always teeters somewhere between fantasy and reality.
