Zandra Rhodes: Unseen

Interesting exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum exploring the archive, studio and creative process of the designer Zandra Rhodes.

As the museum holds the Zandra Rhodes archive this was inevitably just a snap shop of some aspects of her work and focused on bead work, the Conceptual Chic collection of 1977, her post punk collection and her most recent work.

The bead work was spectacular and it was interesting to see the process behind it of printing the fabric, sending it to India for the beading to be done and then making up the garments in the studio. I was also interested to see that the design of fabric helps to create the shape of the finished garment.

The Conceptual Chic collection was her punk collection although she says she was never a punk she was looking more at Surrealism and the work of Elsa Schiaparelli.

Her latest work has seen her starting to work with digital rather than hand printing and using her won sketches to create a fabric and dress. These were simple and elegant short dresses but amazingly colourful.

 

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