The Fashion and Textiles Museum celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and is marking the occasion with an exhibition of founder Zandra Rhodes‘ career to date. Although the museum has showcased the designer’s work before, this latest display – entitled Zandra Rhodes Unseen – will look at her lesser-known creations, featuring her beaded Eighties dresses, videos of her catwalk shows and never-seen-before sketches.
Rhodes first bought the building – which is now painted bright pink and orange – in 1995 and hired leading Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta to give the space a makeover. Although she’d hoped to win a lottery-funded grant to pay for the upkeep of the museum, the designer built flats above the first floor to ensure that the gallery remained open. The space has since hosted the work of Kaffe Fassett, Sue Timney, Lucienne Day, Ossie Clark and Bill Gibb.
"It has now become a focal point of the Bermondsey area and a great influence behind Irving Sellar deciding to build the Shard," Rhodes told us. "I felt that British textile designers and fashion designers in general were being forgotten on the world stage and weren’t being praised for their innovations and inspirations.
I wanted to showcase them – they have influenced the international scene, but not received the credit. And the secret to her longevity? "Originality and persistence," she said. "Never give up." Zandra Rhodes Unseen opens at the Fashion and Textiles Museum on July 12 and runs until August 31.
source: vogue