DAME Zandra Rhodes is an icon in the world of fashion and has dressed many well-known figures from Royalty to music legends.
However, she admits a career in the fashion industry wasn’t really at the forefront of her mind growing up.
“I was brought up in a fashion-type background. My mother taught dress making at the art college I went to but she didn’t teach me. I never knew that I was going to go into doing textiles. It was just when I left college I hated teaching.
“I tried to sell my prints and no-one wanted to buy them so I ended up printing them myself, making the clothes and the rest is history.”
Reflecting on her career she says: “For me I was very lucky, I started in 1969 and I took my clothes to America and America fell in love with my clothes. I’ve been very lucky with how it’s gone.”
She recalls a funny incident with music legend Diana Ross while over in the US. She had previously met the singing star when she visited her London shop in Bond Street and bought a pleated jacket and “looked fabulous”.
“I’m driving round in Beverly Hills with…
