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The National Lottery Heritage Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK's heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players we support projects that connect people and communities to heritage. Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, our industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.
Zandra Rhodes' Colourful Heritage project
Colourful Heritage: Zandra Rhodes inspiring future generations of young designers and creative practitioners
1st March 2024 - 31st August 2025
Thanks to National Lottery players, and a £111,000 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, this project will digitally photograph and catalogue garments and accessories from the archive held at Zandra Rhodes Studio and will design and deliver a range of learning opportunities for underrepresented, 16-17-year-old learners from low socio-economic areas of Medway (where Zandra Rhodes grew up) to inspire use of this remarkable legacy before it is lost. It will also provide paid internships for University Fashion and Textile students, and a lasting online collection of the designer's work and an online toolkit for reuse across the compulsory and further education sectors.
Dame Zandra Rhodes is a textile and fashion designer, who has been an inspirational figurehead of the UK fashion industry for more than five decades. She is recognised internationally as a print designer, which combined with an affinity for fine fabrics and colour has resulted in a signature aesthetic that is undeniably unique and stands the test of time. Zandra Rhodes continues to inspire current and future designers including Anna Sui and Pierpaolo Piccioli for Valentino.
Working with The Zandra Rhodes Foundation, founded in 2020, our project seeks to document this legacy before the collection disappears as a heritage asset, and to ensure a long lasting, accessible digital collection of the designer's work.
The Zandra Rhodes Foundation
- Dame Zandra Rhodes
- Piers Atkinson, Director, The Zandra Rhodes Foundation
- Kelly Robinson, Director, KMR Fashion Consultancy Ltd.
- Lottie McCrindell, Personal Assistant and Studio Manager, Zandra Rhodes Enterprises Ltd.
- Contact The Zandra Rhodes Foundation
University for the Creative Arts
- Project Email: colourfulheritage@uca.ac.uk
- Project Sponsor: Leigh Garrett, Head of Resources, Discovery and Liaison
- Project Director: Marie Hitchcock, Discovery Services Manager
- Project Consultant: Amy Robinson, Digital Curation Manager
- Project Manager (Finance): Helen Barrett, Collection Services Manager
- Project Manager (Education & Outreach): Ellen Brown, Learning Development Tutor
- Project Manager (Digitisation): Lorna McColl, Senior Digitisation Officer
- Project Manager (Rights): Lisa Moore, Copyright and Compliance Manager
- Project Officer: Marie-Therese Gramstadt
