Colourful Heritage –
the story so far

Earlier this year, University for the Creative Arts (UCA) and The Zandra Rhodes Foundation announced the launch of an exciting new collaborative project – Colourful Heritage – funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Running until August 2025, the project involves the creation of a digital archive featuring 150 pieces of Rhodes’ work. Here’s how the project has been going so far and what’s next…

19 Nov 2024

Over the summer, student interns were given the incredible opportunity of working in Zandra Rhodes’ Studio to digitally archive 150 fashion pieces, which you can now see online for the first time. The archive includes jewellery and headpieces designed for Rhodes’ fashion shows by jeweller and sculptor Andrew Logan; headpieces designed by avant-garde milliner Stephen Jones during the early years of his career; and headpieces designed by milliner Piers Atkinson, whose clients include Lady Gaga and Doja Cat. It also includes iconic articles referenced in Rhodes’ autobiography, Iconic – such as the cape Freddie Mercury tried on in her Bayswater studio, to a dress fitted for Princess Diana at Kensington Palace.

Interns get to work

In Rhodes’ studio, the interns had the opportunity to work with the internationally renowned designer as well as Piers Atkinson (Head of The Zandra Rhodes Foundation), Frances Diplock (retired Production Manager who worked with Rhodes for more than 40 years), and other experts including the photographer Jon Stokes, and from the Victoria and Albert Museum, senior textile conservator Sarah Glenn and costume mounter Stephanie Howell. The student interns found it invaluable to see a working studio, building their confidence and introducing them to a new suite of career options going forward. The students also supported the project team with creating social media content on Instagram. The student interns are being supported with employability skills and one of the interns, Emily Ash, has already secured a job with Rhodes.

Thanks to the National Lottery Heritage funding, UCA has also digitally archived more than 100 pages of Rhodes’ fashion and textile design drawings, updating an existing archive and completing a comprehensive record of Rhodes’ work from 1969 to 2020. These style bibles were previously unseen private working resources, held only in the studio – now 17 style bibles of fashion drawings and a textile design bible are all online for anyone to browse.

Colourful Heritage to broaden its horizons

Meanwhile, a new phase of the project is about to begin, working with young people from underprivileged backgrounds and inspiring new audiences to access creative education and in turn, cultural heritage.

Growing up in a working-class family in the Medway area of Kent, Rhodes’ father was a lorry driver and her mother a lecturer at the local Medway College of Design (which later became UCA). Rhodes’ worked hard at Fort Pitt Grammar School, and from a young age would draw and sketch every day. One of her iconic textile designs ‘Wiggle and Checks’ was inspired by jigsaw puzzles her family and her did as a family on holiday.

With that in mind, Ellen Brown, Project Manager (Education & Outreach) from UCA will be working with schools in the Medway area of Kent, to encourage 16 and 17-year-olds to be inspired by this example to #draweveryday and to find inspiration in their own everyday experiences. Workshops will be taking place in the Spring of 2025, and those who take part will receive a special Dame Zandra Rhodes pink and gold sketchbook to record their work.

A big #ThanksToYou to National Lottery players for funding The Colourful Heritage Project courtesy of the National Lottery Heritage Fund.