LIVING COLOR: Dame Zandra Rhodes is looking after her rich legacy in fashion and textile design with the donation of five key archive garments from her eponymous foundation to the Fashion and Textile Museum’s permanent collection in London.
The works date from 1974 to 1992, and include two dramatic chiffon dresses, the Field of Lilies dress and the Reverse Lilies dress. She has also donated a red silk chiffon dress with pagoda sleeves printed with her Chinese Squares design.
The museum, which aims to “champion, celebrate, and preserve the work of contemporary fashion and textile designers,” said the dresses “offer future audiences an opportunity to engage directly with landmark examples” of Rhodes’ design practice.
Rhodes revealed the donation during an event to celebrate the installation of commemorative mirrored plaques by her old friend, the artist and sculptor Andrew Logan, of the designer and her late partner Salah Hassanein.
Zandra Rhodes and Andrew Logan
The new plaques echo Logan’s mirrored portrait sculptures of Rhodes and Hassanein, which have been displayed in the museum’s entrance foyer since 2020.
Hassanein, who died in 2018, was Rhodes’ life partner for more than 30 years. He enthusiastically supported her career and her founding of the Fashion and Textile Museum.
“I founded the Fashion and Textile Museum in 2003, making London’s first museum devoted entirely to the wonderful craftsmanship of fashion and textiles,” said Rhodes during the dedication ceremony.
“Working with the amazing Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta to bring this vibrant pink and orange building to life is one of my proudest achievements, and more than 20 years later, it remains a place very close to my heart,” she added. The museum is located on Bermondsey Street, in southeast London.
Dennis Nothdruft, the museum’s head of exhibitions, said Rhodes’ work “is a constant source of inspiration to the team here, as well as to our visitors. We are looking forward to a long and fruitful relationship with the Zandra Rhodes Foundation, working to preserve Zandra’s design legacy.”
