On Monday, October 14th at 7:30pm Warwick's will host Zandra Rhodes as she discusses and signs her new book, Zandra Rhodes: 50 Fabulous Years in Fashion. Zandra Rhodes is a British fashion and textile designer and international fashion icon. She was born in Chatham, Kent, UK in 1940 and introduced to the world of fashion by her mother, a fitter for the Paris fashion House of Worth and later a lecturer at Medway College of Art. Reserved Seating is full - very limited open seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Only books purchased from Warwick's will be signed. Please call the Warwick's Book Dept. (858) 454-0347 for details.

This book commemorates Zandra Rhodes, one of Britain’s most recognized designers and her 50 years in fashion. It is a beautifully printed collection of Zandra’s iconic designs from 1969 to the present day. The foreword is written by world renowned Vogue Editor, Suzy Menkes, with additional celebrity essays by Anna Sui, PierPaolo Piccioli, Iris Apfel, Marylou Luther, Helena Matheopoulos, Mary Schoeser, Joan Agajanian Quinn, and Rajeev Sethi. Each of these essays explore a different facet of the Zandra Rhodes career; her work in fashion and textiles, as an opera designer, dressing royalty and stars, founder of the Fashion and Textile museum, and her on-going influence in printed textiles and on international fashion.

Zandra studied at Medway College of Art, Kent, UK, and then at The Royal College of Art in London. Her major area of study was printed textile design. Her early textile designs were considered too outrageous by the traditional British manufacturers so she decided to make dresses from her own fabrics and pioneered the innovative use of printed textiles as an intrinsic part of the garments she created. In 1967 she opened her first shop: The Fulham Road Clothes Shop in London with Sylvia Ayton.

In 1969 she set up on her own and took her collection to New York where Diana Vreeland featured her garments in American Vogue. After which she started selling to Henri Bendel in NY, followed by Sakowitz, Neiman Marcus and Saks. In the UK, Zandra was given her own area in Fortnum and Mason, London. She was awarded Designer of the Year in 1972 and in Royal Designer for Industry in 1974.

Zandra’s own lifestyle is as dramatic, glamorous and extrovert as her designs. With her bright pink hair, theatrical make-up and art jewellery, she has stamped her identity on the international world of fashion. Zandra was one of the new wave of British designers who put London at the forefront of the international fashion scene in the 1970s. Her unique use of bold prints, fiercely feminine patterns and theatrical use of colour has given her garments a timeless quality that makes them unmistakably a Rhodes creation. In 1977 she pioneered the pink and black jersey collection with holes and beaded safety pins that earned her the name of “Princess of Punk”. Her posters from this period have been a continuous inspiration for make-up artists and are collectors’ items. Her vintage garments have long been collected by Tom Ford and Anna Sui and have been worn by Lana Del Ray, Kelly Osborne, the Olsen twins, Nicole Riche, Lorde, Anna Cleveland, Kate Moss, and Naomi Campbell.

She has designed for clients as diverse as Diana Princess of Wales, Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Onassis, HRH Princess Michael of Kent, Debbie Harry, Kylie Minogue, Paris Hilton, Joan Rivers, Isabella Blow, and Freddie Mercury of the rock group ‘Queen’. Her designs have been featured in the world’s top magazines on Diana Ross, Bianca Jagger, Cher, Carolina Herrera, and more. Zandra was asked to replicate the designs she originally created for Freddie Mercury and Brian May in 1976 for their characters played by Rami Malek and Gwilym Lee in 20th Century Fox’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.

This book commemorates Zandra Rhodes, one of Britain’s most recognized designers and her 50 years in fashion. It is a beautifully printed collection of Zandra’s iconic designs from 1969 to the present day. The foreword is written by world renowned Vogue Editor, Suzy Menkes, with additional celebrity essays by Anna Sui, PierPaolo Piccioli, Iris Apfel, Marylou Luther, Helena Matheopoulos, Mary Schoeser, Joan Agajanian Quinn, and Rajeev Sethi. Each of these essays explore a different facet of the Zandra Rhodes career; her work in fashion and textiles, as an opera designer, dressing royalty and stars, founder of the Fashion and Textile museum, and her on-going influence in printed textiles and on international fashion. This book will coincide with an exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum, titled ‘Zandra Rhodes: 50 Years of Fabulous’ starting September 27, 2019.