SHE has designed outfits for royalty, rock stars and celebrities, but at the weekend, one of the biggest icons in British fashion dropped in to Brown’s in York to launch her latest product. Zandra Rhodes is an unmistakeable figure in the world of fashion.
With her bright pink hair and theatrical eyeliner, she stands out in the crowd gathered in the bustling department store to celebrate the launch of her latest range of affordable yet fashionable handbags.
In a career which has seen her design outfits for everyone from Diana, Princess of Wales, Princess Michael of Kent, Jackie Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Harry, the movement to high street fashion has seen a reduction in prices, but no loss of the unmistakeable Zandra Rhodes style.
“It’s just fabulous to be outside of London, and it’s lovely that someone is following your work,” she said, laughing, when asked how she was finding her whirlwind tour of three UK cities in one day.
“Bags are an essential to an outfit. If the dress and the shoes are great and the handbag is terrible, the whole outfit is ruined. The perfect bag is one that looks right with the outfit. But for me the bag must fulfil a useful purpose and hold all the things I need my own bag to hold. I expect my evening bag to hold my wallet, more than just a credit card, keys, camera, phone, comb and lipstick.”
Zandra was introduced to the world of fashion by her mother, who was a fitter for the Paris fashion House of Worth and later a lecturer at Medway College of Art, where Zandra also studied, before majoring in printed textile design at the Royal College of Art in London.
Her bold, creative designs were considered outrageous by manufacturers in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and mixed dramatic and feminine styles to great effect, making her an early embracer of the strategic tears and safety pins of the punk period and the perfect designer for Freddie Mercury, the flamboyant front man of rock group Queen.
Zandra said: “I love the seventies, they were my formative period. The seventies have their own special romance. It was an honest period. No holds barred, no pretences.”
I ask if she misses that era, and whether it seems now that celebrities are trying too hard to get noticed or forcing their way into the public eye with outlandish outfits for shock value.
She pauses for a second while we take a seat on the steps in the middle of the department store, packed with Christmas shoppers and fans eager to catch a glimpse of her.
“I think stylistically we are going through a period where people are going to lengths not to look outlandish.
“It’s not seen as looking normal to have pink hair in the US when I visit, but it’s encouraging that in the UK the people aren’t too nervous to do their own thing.”
“Everyone was taking notice of this country in the seventies, when people dared to do their own things. Now when you look at Lady Gaga, for example, she comes over with her own thing, and she’s not scared to lead.”
Zandra was awarded the CBE in 1997 in recognition of her contribution to fashion and textiles. She has been given several honorary doctorates, and was named Designer Of The Year in 1972. She also set up the Fashion and Textiles museum in London to celebrate fashion and textile designers from the 1950s to the present day, and spent time in North Yorkshire while preparing for its opening in 2003.
Between high street handbags and historical archiving, the 70-year-old designer acknowledges there’s not much she hasn’t tried in her career.
“I did a range of tents and Wellington boots for Millets a few years ago, then went to Glastonbury and prayed it would rain. I think that was one of the few times it didn’t,” she said, laughing. But I think you have to be complimented that people enjoy wearing the things you design, it’s always fabulous. When you have designed something it’s the biggest compliment that someone wants to wear it, or if it makes them feel good.”
When asked about childhood ambitions and future plans, considering there’s a royal wedding due in 2011, she chuckles.
“I can’t remember that far back. I remember being teased because I said I want to be a millionaire. My goals are always changing. I would like to have huge international visibility rather that being an exclusive cult figure influencing other designers’ collections.”
Then, as the crowd which has gathered to watch us chat looks on with curiosity, she leans in and whispers conspiratorially: “And of course, I’d love to be asked to do The Dress.”
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