Stories
Rare birds
Zandra Rhodes Donation
Video and article by Powerhouse Studio
Dame Zandra Rhodes has been described as ‘a rare bird’ and is readily recognisable with her flamingo pink hair, kohl-lined eyes and carapace of oversized art jewellery.
Her textiles and garment designs are no less distinctive.
In a career spanning more than half a century, she has created fabrics of a remarkable complexity, inspired by nature – plants, plumage, topography, the cosmos – as much as artifice, from Elizabethan ruffs to cowboy outfits to cosmetics advertising.
Working her signature textiles into garments that gather and drape and otherwise ruffle around the body, she has dressed celebrities from Diana Ross to Princess Diana, Bianca Jagger to Cher, Freddie Mercury and Donna Summer.
