Zandra Rhodes was born in 1940 in Chatham, Kent. She is a fashion designer and pioneer of printed textile design who founded the Fashion and Textile Museum in London in 2003.
What’s your earliest memory?
Drawing chalk butterflies on the air raid shelter in my childhood garden in Chatham.
Who are your heroes?
My childhood hero was my fabulously flamboyant mother. Her distinctive style and confidence made a huge impression on me as a young girl. She died of lung cancer when I was 27, but her boldness and strength has been my eternal guiding light. My adult hero was my late partner Salah Hassanein. In later life, Salah was the rock I always turned to for support. He was instrumental in helping me found the Fashion and Textile Museum in London.
What book last changed your thinking?
Writing my newly published memoir, ICONIC: My Life in Fashion in 50 Objects, completely changed my thinking. It forced me to reflect and reckon with difficult memories of past relationships I had swept under the carpet. It dramatically altered my view of my father, who I now believe I was too harsh on.
What TV show could you not live without?
My life is exceptionally busy with design projects and archiving my historical garments with the Zandra Rhodes Foundation that I truthfully don’t have time to watch TV shows. I am a dedicated Radio 4 fan; it is always playing in my studio.
In which time and place, other than your own, would you like to live?
Exploring India with my best friend Andrew Logan in the 1980s. It was absolutely magical. So much joy and colour.
What would be your “Mastermind” specialist subject?
Printed textiles!
Who would paint your portrait?
I would love Andrew Logan to create a new portrait of me. He has done four of me throughout my life. One of them is an object in my memoir, and displayed in the National Portrait Gallery.
What’s your theme tune?
Joe Cocker’s cover of “With a Little Help from My Friends”. Joe performed it at the opening of my first shop on the Fulham Road. Fabulous memories!
What political figure do you look up to?
Barbara Castle for how instrumental she was in getting equal pay for women.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
My mother’s pet phrase: “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. ‘Til your good is better and your better is best.”
What’s currently bugging you?
My hydrangeas are dying and I cannot figure out why. I have written to Gardeners’ Question Time.
What single thing would make your life better?
More time!
When were you happiest?
I’m happiest when I am surrounded by my inspiring friends.
In another life, what job might you have chosen?
I couldn’t dream of having another job. I live and breathe printed textiles and colour.
Are we all doomed?
No! We all need to fill our worlds with more colour and maintain hope in our youth, who we must encourage to bring about change.
Zandra Rhodes’s “ICONIC: My Life in 50 Objects” is published by Transworld
[See also: Nathalie A Cabrol: Q&A: “I was happiest diving into volcanoes’ summit lakes”]
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This article appears in the 21 Aug 2024 issue of the New Statesman, The Christian Comeback