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In this insightful memoir, Zandra shares her life story for the first time. Told through a variety of mementos collected over the years, it is a vibrant account filled with rockstars and royalty, of life-changing friendships and poignant reflections on her personal triumphs and tragedies, as well as the fears, sacrifices and pressures that come with being an era-defining designer.
Full of poignant reflections and life lessons on achieving success while defying convention, Zandra takes the reader right alongside her as she recounts being inspired by her avant-garde mother to her time at the Royal College, from a road trip to Rome with Ossie Clark and Celia Birtwell, to opening her first London store thanks to a kind loan from Vanessa Redgrave with Joe Cocker singing With a Little Help From My Friends, from hanging out with Andy Warhol and Halston in New York's Studio 54 to lifelong friendships with legends such as Karl Lagerfeld and Diana Vreeland; from designing for everyone from Freddie Mercury to Diana Ross, Princess Diana to Barbra Streisand to founding the Fashion and Textile Museum.
Capturing the rich and unexpected life of a British icon, this memoir explores what it is to defy the norm.

Celebrating decades of achievement by one of the foremost names in British fashion, whose vitality and influence continue to shine Zandra Rhodes provides a luscious documentary of this leading British designer, spanning her 50-year career in fashion and textile design. The book showcases not only Rhodes's work but also her vivid personality and creative energy. Both a fashion trailblazer and a consummate textile designer, she has influenced the work of contemporary labels such as Mary Katrantzou and Alice Temperley. The book honors the centrality of textile design in Rhodes's work, while exploring the versatility of her imagination throughout her long career; contributors include Pierpaolo Piccioli (creative director of Valentino), Suzy Menkes (editor of Vogue International), and celebrated fashion designers Anna Sui and Rajeev Sethi. It also commemorates the 50th anniversary of the house of Zandra Rhodes, a British-owned and -made brand, and Rhodes's successful establishment of the Fashion and Textile Museum in London. Published in association with the Fashion and Textile Museum, London Exhibition Schedule: Fashion and Textile Museum, London (September 27, 2019-January 26, 2020)

Pop art created a fresh new outlook using everyday objects and design conflating high and low culture into a bright bold aesthetic. Fueled by the prestigious art schools in London specifically the Royal College of Art, the Pop artists of the late 1950s and early 1960s found their voice. A young, eager, and talented textile student, Zandra Rhodes, took inspiration from the Pop movement encircling her at the Royal College of Art and the energy and personalities that put London on the fashion map. Zandra Rhodes was one of the most pioneering and influential textile designers of the late 1960s and 1970s who took her remarkable pop art inspired fabrics and revolutionized the fashion world. This book highlights Rhodes's early textile designs from her years at the Royal College of Art, to her first foray into the fashion world with designs for the legendary Swinging London duo Foale and Tuffin, to the launch of her eponymous collection as well as special commissions for Jacqmar, &Vice Versa, and Sekers Pty Australia. The book features stunning photography of never seen before textiles, drawings, and archival images combined with fashion photography by Clive Arrowsmith, Guy Bourdin, Henry Clarke, David Bailey, Helmut Newton, and Richard Traeger.
ILLUSTRATIONS 125 colour & 55 b/w illustrations

This lavishly illustrated publication is a commentary on the emotional attachment that various key fashion personalities from designers, celebrities, models, photographers, stylists and fashion editors have with the one thing that is treasured in their memory or wardrobe: their Favourite Dress. 120 designers and key industry players from around the world have described the very personal reasons behind their choice, through text, photographs by leading fashion photographers, fabric samples, original sketches and other ephemera their choices come alive on the page. The dresses selected by these individuals are intriguing and highlights the intimacy that the designer and wearer feels with their garment. This book gives the audience an opportunity to explore how a dress can be a creative statement, a symbol of celebration, power, and individuality. My Favourite Dress is about choice, memory and a moment; a must have for any fashionista. Designers featured include: 19 RM - Roland Mouret, Alberta Ferretti, Alexander McQueen, Amanda Wakeley, Anna Sui, Antonio Berardi, Anthony Price, Balmain - Oscar de la Renta, Barbara Hulanicki, Bella Freud, Ben de Lisi, Bernhard Willhelm, Betsy Johnson, Betty Jackson, Calvin Klein, Francisco Costa - Calvin Klein, Caroline Charles, Catherine Malandrino, Christian Lacroix, Clements Ribeiro, Comme des Garcons, Daisy de Villeneuve, David Sassoon - Bellville Sassoon, Lorcan Mullany, Diane von Furstenberg, Dolce & Gabbana, Donna Karen, Dries Van Noten, Eley Kishimoto, Elie Sabb, Emanuel Ungaro, Gianfranco Ferre, Giles Deacon, Giorgio Armani, Hamish Morrow, Harriet Quick, Isabel Toledo, Issey Miyake, Jane Burton, Jasper Conran, Joe Casely-Hayford, John Galliano, John Rocha, Julian McDonald, Julie Verhoeven, Junya Wantanabe, Kenzo - Giles Rosier, Lanvin - Alber Elbaz, Louise Goldin, Luella Bartley, Marc Jacobs, Margaret Howell; Maria Grachvogel, Markus Lupfer, Mary Quant, Matthew Williamson, Michiko KoshinO, Missoni - Angela Missoni, Moschino - Rossella Jardini, Naoki Takizawa, Nicole Farhi, Oriole Cullen , Osman Yousefzada, Paco Rabanne, Paul and Joe, Paul Smith, Pearce Fionda, Ralph Lauren, Rick Owens, Romeo Gigli, Sonia Rykiel, Sophia Kokosalaki, Stella McCartney, Stephen Jones, Thierry Mugler, Tracey Emin, Tristan Webber, Valentino, Vera Wang, Donatella Versace, Vivienne Westwood, Zac Posen, Zandra Rhodes.
ILLUSTRATIONS 400 colour

Internationally recognised, the British designer Zandra Rhodes has always managed to create original and dramatic fashions which are also graceful and feminine. This book brings together some of her most notable works, as well as looking at the influence she has had on other designers.

"The originality and genius of Zandra Rhodes is recognised around the world, and it is sights and impressions from around the world which have so often stimulated her Art. From the aerial view of a Mexican sombrero to the wiggle of the Great Wall of China, images have met her eye and been interpreted through her own intensely personal vision, boldly making their way into the highest realms of fashion. In looking back over sixteen celebrated years of printing and designing she has been intrigued by the quixotic way in which her themes have related to journeys of various kinds and, in resolving to chart these, she has aimed at pinning down the creative process itself, in order to share it with others." "Her 'departure point' on this Fashion Odyssey was the realisation that she and her textile designs (which she had already, unconventionally, physically printed onto the fabric herself) had too strong a personality to fit into other designers' fashions. So she made clothes the way she wanted them to be, letting the textiles influence the garment shapes - creating prints, printing, designing clothes, patternmaking, cutting out dresses and hand-rolling edges all herself. She still works fourteen hours a day, seven days a week."
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