Zandra Rhodes

We talk to the grande dame of fashion and fabric design about her early inspirations, key collaborations, and a career that spans over 50 years

- JANET GLEESON

The iconic designer at Gainsborough mill.

It never occurred to Dame Zandra Rhodes that she would become a superstar of the fashion world. Born in Chatham, Kent, in 1940, she toyed with the idea of becoming an archaeologist and then of becoming an illustrator. I didn't do much sewing. I was always drawing and painting.' It was only at Medway art college, thanks to an inspirational teacher, that she discovered a passion for printed textiles, and the course of her future was set. Since then, my career has been based around textiles and where they lead,' she recalls.

From Medway, Zandra won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art and began designing furnishing textiles. 'I absorbed the pop art of the time. Hockney was at the RCA; I saw what people like Paul Poiret and Sonia Delaunay could do.' Another important source of inspiration was her mother, who had worked for the couturier Worth, taught at Medway, and to whom she ascribes her signature love of colour. 'I was very influenced by her; she was very exotic. But when it was school open days I'd say, "Please don't come looking different from the other mothers" she didn't look like anyone else.'

From furnishing fabrics, Zandra diverted her focus to designing printed fabrics for the fashion industry. Her first break came thanks to the designers Foale and Tuffin. 'They were the trendy designers of the day, designing for Liberty and others. I had to work with a print company, transferring my designs - it was a very exciting learning experience. The designs were photographed in British Vogue and incredibly well-received,' she explains.