As a student in the 1960s, Zandra Rhodes would often visit the costume court of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to study the Elizabethan doublets. She went on to incorporate elements of Tudor costume into many of her couture collections.
Now things have come full circle. As an icon of British fashion – and a dame – Rhodes’ collections are providing inspiration for a new generation of students. Upon receiving her honorary doctorate of the arts from De Montfort University (DMU) in 2023, Rhodes announced her decision to donate her archive to the university.
These remarkable archives are at the heart of a major new public exhibition across the DMU campus. The University Gallery will explore Rhodes’ creative process and design collaborations with brands such as Ikea, Marks & Spencers and TopShop.
The University Museum will also present an in-depth study of her autumn/winter 1983 Medieval Collection. Together, these displays draw on material from the Zandra Rhodes Foundation’s donation to reveal both the breadth of the designer’s career and the rich educational potential of her archive.
Rhodes originally studied printed textile design at the Royal College of Art in London. After graduating in 1964, she became frustrated with clothing manufacturers who considered her textile patterns too outlandish to use on their garments, so she decided to move into fashion design.
Rhodes ensured that each garment she designed would perfectly showcase her own textile prints. Her trademark diaphanous dresses have been worn by royalty and celebrities, from Princess Diana to Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Harry. Rhodes herself embodies a flamboyant personal style and is famed for her bright pink hair, theatrical make-up and bold costume jewellery.
Fashion and textiles have been taught at DMU for over 150 years, from corsetry and footwear to knitwear and textile design. The university’s special collections hold numerous archives which reflect this background in fashion and textiles teaching.
Rhodes’ archive collection spans 1964 to 2021, and provides a wealth of useful material including: samples of mock-ups and final garments from ready-to-wear collections; documents that chart the development of a design from initial sketches through to fabric sampling, patterning, costing and marketing; press cuttings; photographs; and audio-visual recordings.
Exploring the creative process
Rhodes was very specific that her collection was to be used for teaching the next generation of fashion designers. We have been delighted to incorporate it into a wide range of teaching activities.
Beyond vague ideas about “vintage style”, few students will have considered using heritage or historic costume as inspiration for their own work, even though this approach is increasingly championed by the wider fashion industry.
The scope of Rhodes’ collection allows us to trace the development of a garment from initial conception to finished product, following the chain of design, production and marketing. Reviewing the methods and practices of a globally successful designer is invaluable to students who are at the very start of their own careers.
It demonstrates for them first-hand how much trial and error, collaboration and sheer effort goes into the creative process, and how the path from concept to completion is strewn with mistakes and revisions. That is a powerful lesson for students, who may mistake difficulties in their own work for a lack of talent. The archive shows instead that uncertainty and imperfection are normal parts of the creative process.
The value of hands-on learning
During archive sessions, we take an object-based learning approach. Students are encouraged to get hands-on with the garments and other items in the collection, analysing their cut, construction, materials, techniques, patterning, embellishment and visual impact. This champions the value of materiality in a digital, AI-driven age where many students experience fashion primarily through a screen.
We have also developed creative approaches to lessons that allow the students to engage with the archive in a stimulating way. Sketching from the archive helps build confidence in drawing, supported by seeing real examples of how vital drawing is to Rhodes’ practice.
In another exercise, students analyse the wide range of influences that inspire Rhodes’ pattern designs, from nature and landscapes to urban cityscapes, found objects and folk art. They then find and photograph their own inspirations and create their own Rhodes-inspired patterns.
Adapting the Rhodes signature style
Academic staff collaborating with special collections have designed an increasing number of module assessments that require students to use the archive as direct inspiration for their own designed collections. This has expanded to include numerous design and creative subjects.
Footwear students have made Zandra Rhodes-inspired collections, while fashion marketing students have designed and promoted collaborations between existing brands and the designer. Elsewhere, students of the interior design theatre module have created stage sets drawing on her work on opera costuming, and museum design students have prepared proposals for exhibitions showcasing the archive collection.
Our work shows that there is significant benefit to students when they gain an understanding of creative processes and methods through hands-on handling of heritage collections and archival papers.
The excitement of our students when they encounter the Rhodes’ collection is palpable, and we have noted improvements to their work once they have been immersed in the archive.
One described experiencing the archive first-hand as a “really special moment. It was actually really moving being able to dive into someone’s work and life – it felt very personal.”
It is clear that having access to a rich and comprehensive fashion archive from a top British designer has the capacity to engage and inspire the upcoming designers of the future.
Zandra Rhodes: Archive Unfolded will be on show at De Montfort University, Leicester until January 16 2027