43 Facts About Zandra Rhodes

Zandra Rhodes has designed textiles for interiors, featuring her prints on furniture and homewares.

In 2003 Zandra Rhodes founded the Fashion and Textile Museum in London.

Zandra Rhodes was born 19 September 1940, in Chatham, Kent, England.

Zandra Rhodes's mother was a fitter at the House of Worth in Paris and later became a professor at Medway College of Art, now the University for the Creative Arts.

Zandra Rhodes's father was in the air force in Egypt and later became a lorry driver.

Three years after Zandra Rhodes was born, her mother gave birth to her sister Beverley Zandra Rhodes.

Zandra Rhodes' mother having an occupational background in fashion, the industry was instilled in her as an adolescent; she has described her mother as one of her greatest influences, to whom she owes her career.

Zandra Rhodes first studied at Medway College of Art; her major area of study was printed textile design in England.

Zandra Rhodes later furthered her education under a scholarship at Royal College of Art.

Zandra Rhodes strayed away from the traditional patterns many designers were producing to create furniture.

Zandra Rhodes utilised her skill towards designing patterns to create garments.

In 1964, Zandra Rhodes graduated with a degree in home furnishing textile design.

In 1968 Zandra Rhodes started a business with fashion designer Sylvia Ayton.

The business allowed Zandra Rhodes to create her textile designs onto garments designed by Sylvia Ayton.

Zandra Rhodes produced her first collection showing loose, romantic garments.

Zandra Rhodes was one of the new wave of British designers who put London at the forefront of the international fashion scene in the 1970s.

Zandra Rhodes's designs are considered clear, creative statements; dramatic but graceful; audacious but feminine.

Zandra Rhodes created handmade evening wear using her unique feminine textiles.

Zandra Rhodes made her biggest splash in 1977 with the establishment take on punk, which she called Conceptual Chic.

Zandra Rhodes achieves this look by using techniques including layering, smocking, and shirring.

All of Zandra Rhodes's garments are constructed around the design of her distinct prints, despite being structured around the formation of the dress.

Zandra Rhodes designed for Diana, Princess of Wales, and continues to design for royalty and celebrities.

Zandra Rhodes has branched out from fashion, bringing her textiles into other design disciplines.

In 1976 Zandra Rhodes designed her first interior home decor collection, licensed under Wamsutta.

Zandra Rhodes used her signature prints to create, ties, lingerie, and a fragrance.

Zandra Rhodes designed for Verdi's Aida at the Houston Grand Opera and English National Opera.

In 2002 Zandra Rhodes designed a poster for Transport for London showing the River Thames as a woman wearing London landmarks as jewellery.

Zandra Rhodes is the founder of the Fashion and Textile Museum in London, which opened in May 2003.

Zandra Rhodes personally asked each designer to choose one of their favourite dresses for the exhibit.

Zandra Rhodes included three thousand of her own original garments, and her sketch books and silk screens.

Zandra Rhodes received an honorary doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 2007.

Zandra Rhodes appeared, as herself, in an episode of Absolutely Fabulous during the BBC show's second season.

Zandra Rhodes was a guest judge for the first episode of the third season of Project Catwalk.

In November 2010, Zandra Rhodes was appointed chancellor of the University for the Creative Arts, one of the UK's newest universities and only the second to focus specifically on art and design.

Marks and Spencers introduced the upmarket Zandra Rhodes collection, modelled and made by Rhodes, into the bigger stores by late 2009.

The Zandra Rhodes jewelry includes five separate collections, which are Oriental Whisper collection, Punk Chic collection, Lovely Lilies collection, Signature collection and Manhattan Lady collection.

Zandra Rhodes launched a handbag range made under licence by Blueprint in 2010 and has collaborated to produce a bed linen range and a new improved outdoor clothing range.

On 26 March 2013, Zandra Rhodes launched a Digital Study collection of 500 of her iconic garments from her private archive, as well as drawings and behind-the-scenes interviews and tutorials in her studio.

In September 2021, Zandra Rhodes launched a 26-piece homeware collection with Ikea of Sweden, available globally in-stores and online.

Zandra Rhodes was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1997 Birthday Honours for services to the fashion industry, and promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to British fashion and textiles.

Zandra Rhodes describes former president of Warner Brothers Salah Hassanein as having been her long-standing partner, and the greatest love of her life, until his death in 2019.

On 30 June 2009, Zandra Rhodes crashed her car into a hardware store in La Jolla, California, injuring a woman.

Zandra Rhodes is a survivor of a rare and aggressive cancer called Cholangiocarcinoma which affects the bile duct.