Zandra Rhodes design archive launched online

The University for the Creative Arts has launched a digital archive of work by celebrated fashion designer Zandra Rhodes featuring 500 images of the designer’s iconic dresses and garments, including haute couture dresses worn by the likes of

Princess Diana, Elizabeth Taylor and Diana Ross.

Funded by JISC, a charitable organisation that aims to make the UK the most digitally advanced education and research nation in the world, the archive has been developed for the education community to act as a learning, teaching and research tool to aid fashion historian, fashion and textile designs, as well as fans of Zandra Rhodes work.

JISC funds Zandra Rhodes archive

Taking more than 18 months to collate, the archive features digitised garments covering her entire creative career from the late 1960s to the present day, with particular focus on her landmark collections of the 1970s and 1980s, and has been made possible from a 110,000 pound grant from JISC, as part of its Content Programme.

Each piece has been photographed from a front, back, side and close-up view and has been researched and catalogued in detail including which collection the item came from, the fabrics and the techniques used.

Additionally, the archive also features the designer’s sketches, behind-the-scenes footage from her studio, and there are a number of video tutorials where Rhodes and her studio team demonstrate some of the specialist techniques used to create the couture garments, such as screen printing, pattern cutting and how to machine rolled hem.

Commenting on the project, Rhodes said: "I am tremendously proud to announce that the Zandra Rhodes Digital Study Collection is now available to the world.

“I would like to thank the University for the Creative Arts, JISC, the team at my studio and VADS for believing in the project and making this happen – it’s not easy to locate, prep, photograph, research, and catalogue 50 years of fashion collections but they have done a fantastic job."

Professor Kerstin Mey, Director of Research and Enterprise at UCA, added: "Zandra gave our researchers and students unprecedented access to her studio which has enabled them to catalogue 500 famous items from her personal archive that we will make available to a global audience.

"I am certain that this accessible, open education resource featuring one of the most influential British fashion designers over the past 50 years will stimulate and inform future generations."

Famous for her bright pink hair and cutting-edge designs, Rhodes was appointed UCA's first Chancellor in 2010 and studied at Medway College of Art - one of the Kent and Surrey colleges that formed UCA.