Zandra Rhodes, A Life Long Love Affair with Textiles

RMIT Gallery, Melbourne 11 Feb 2008 – 22 Feb 2008

Email: rmit.gallery@rmit.edu.au Web: www.rmit.edu.au/rmitgallery

RMIT Gallery is proud to present a stunning exhibition of Zandra Rhodes’s unmistakable designs in the first major retrospective of the fashion doyenne’s garments to be shown in Australia.

Zandra Rhodes began as a textile designer in the UK in the late 1960s and remains one of the most creative and influential artists in the fashion world today. Her flamboyant use of colour and form has created original clothing that is timeless.

Her name has always been synonymous with a wild, yet feminine aesthetic of shredded chiffon, filmy crinolines, punk wedding dresses, elegant beaded shifts, jagged coats and sheer kaftans. She designed for the late Diana Princess of Wales and today her clothes are likely to be seen on Kate Moss, Kelly Osborne and Kylie Minogue.

A Life Long Love Affair with Textiles charts Rhodes’s creative progress from the initial inspiration to the finished product, bringing to life many of her iconic designs over four decades. Over 40 original garments and textiles will be on display alongside her inspirational sketchbooks, hand printed fabrics and paper patterns.

The exhibition has been co-curated by RMIT Gallery Director Suzanne Davies and Sarah Morris.