Zandra Rhodes [ 1940 - Present ]

Zandra Rhodes is a British fashion designer. Upon graduation from The Royal College of Art, School of Textile & Design in 1964 Rhodes opened her first shop ‘The Fulham Road Clothes Shop’ with the fashion designer Sylvia Ayton. In 1969 she set up on her own and took her collection to New York where Diana Vreeland featured her garments in American Vogue, after which she started selling to Henri Bendel in NY, followed by Sakowitz, Neiman Marcus and Saks. In the UK, Rhodes was given her own area in Fortnum & Mason. She was awarded Designer of the Year in 1972 and in 1974 Royal Designer for Industry. In 1975 she founded her own shop off Bond Street and a boutique area in Marshall Fields, Chicago. The signature of all her designs was the hand printed fabric. In 1997, she was made a Commander of the British Empire in recognition of her contribution to fashion and textiles and in 2003 setup the Fashion & Textile Museum dedicated to showing the work of fashion and textile designers from the 1950s onwards. The V&A hold a number of original designs and clothing and her work has been included in a number of important retrospective exhibitions. In 2014 she was made a Dame.