Zandra Rhodes: Archive Unfolded
Nia Sayer
Zandra Rhodes: Archive Unfolded is The Zandra Rhodes Foundation’s latest project, an educational collaboration with De Montfort University. From the 26th September to the 16th January 2027, the foundation is hosting a multi-site exhibition at the DMU campus, celebrating British textile and fashion designer Dame Zandra Rhodes’ major donation of archival material to the University.
Following Rhodes’ Honorary Doctorate of the Arts from De Montfort University in 2023, she announced the Foundation’s donation of its key archives: design projects, printed press, opera work, and photographic transparencies. In fact, the collection includes thousands of pieces, functioning as an invaluable learning resource for De Montfort students, researchers and visitors. Spanning from 1964 to 2025, the diverse archive allows an exclusive look into Rhodes’ artistic practice and international career.
Zandra Rhodes Foundation
Rhodes explains the importance of using her past creations to inspire the budding artists and creatives of the future:
‘I formed the Foundation when I realised my extensive archive could do so much more than sit in personal storage, unseen by anyone beyond my studio team. After learning about the university’s special collections and its impressive facilities and opportunities available to students and staff, I knew I wanted to build a connection with the institution to help inspire the creative minds of today and tomorrow.’
The exhibition
Previously, Rhodes has donated vast materials to global institutional museums such as the Fashion and Textile Museum, London, which Zandra founded in 2003; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Now she offers her work as a pedagogic resource to world leading American fashion educator, De Montfort University.
Katherine Short, head of De Montfort special collections explains the knock-on effect the archive is having on the DMU students. Rhodes’ work ignites their desire to create:
‘I love seeing the excitement of students when they first encounter the materials and their own creativity sparks in response! There’s such a vibrant energy to Zandra’s works and it’s so inspiring to see and handle original sketches, tracing their development through the collection from drawing to finished garment.’
The archive unfurls across three sites on the University Campus. Firstly, there’s the Leicester Gallery and adjoining atrium, the De Montfort University Museum, and Trinity House. And so, the trio of displays weave together, stitching a seamless tapestry illustrating the designer’s career, pieces and process.
At Leicester Gallery, Zandra Rhodes: Design Collaborations, explores Rhodes’ partnerships with brands like IKEA, TOPSHOP and Marks & Spencer. This section, from the donated licensing archive, illuminates how bespoke Rhodes’ prints adapt to new audiences and products. Undoubtedly an important lesson in adaptive branding, you can see the impact this section has on students’ design process in Trinity house. Some pupils have since created ‘customer profiles’, exploring the needs and styles of different Zandra Rhodes consumers.
A press timeline tracks Zandra’s diverse career through a selection of the press clippings she saved throughout her life. Undeniably impressive, this chronology spans from her first collection’s feature in 1970 US Vogue to her 2021 HUNGER cover story photographed by Rankin, which commemorates Rhodes’ five decades in fashion.
Then, the Leicester Gallery displays a process table underscoring Rhodes’ detailed design process. The adjoining atrium reveals an installation of printed silk chiffon textile banners. It also includes an archive of her show and special project posters.
A legacy that lives on
Ultimately, the archive functions as a hub for creativity. Simultaneously, the space showcases Rhodes’ artistic practice and achievements, whilst educating visitors on the processes behind such creativity. Rhodes explains her objective for previous collections to serve as educational resources in the present :
‘I am thrilled to have found a home for a key part of my archive where it will live on as a vibrant, hands-on resource for learning and creativity.’
Indeed, Rhodes’ legacy lives on in the creations of the current students. In Trinity House, student responses to the Zandra Rhodes archive are displayed, thus demonstrating the archive as a powerful learning resource for the future generation of artists and designers. For example, students have created mood boards, colour schemes and patterned tote bags all inspired by the signature brand aesthetic. DMU PhD researcher Lucie Shilton explores the digitalisation of Rhodes’ Textile Design and Strategic Pattern Cutting Methods. She explains how she was inspired by Rhodes’ archive:
‘This doctoral research investigates Zandra Rhodes’ distinctive approach to fashion and textile design. Furthermore it evaluates how digital technologies can enrich understanding of archival garments. It highlights the use of digital fashion tools as a methodology for investigating archival material and as a tool for generating new knowledge about pattern cutting and design.’
Emulating Rhodes’ distinctive design process, Shilton creates a 3D dress garment, as seen below.
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With a joint-honours degree in English and French, my writing is driven by a fascination with the ways culture shapes what we create, how we see, and ultimately, how we live.
I am interested in the intersections between design, fashion, travel and culture, because none exist in isolation. And so, I explore each discipline in its individuality, while also considering the ways in which they overlap, influence and enrich one another.
Through my work, I seek to uncover the connections between creativity and the stories behind it: the people, places, histories and ideas that shape what we understand as art today.
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