> Skip to content
[]
Play sample
  • Published: 18 July 2024
  • ISBN: 9781529915037
  • Imprint: Transworld Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 352

Iconic

My Life in Fashion in 50 Objects




Insightful, gossip-filled memoir from legendary British fashion designer renowned for colourful, intricate designs who dressed everyone from rockstars to royalty.

'A vivid and compelling picture of the broader fashion landscape between 1960 and the present day. Anecdotes? The book is full of them.' The Times

'Dazzling from start to finish.' Joanna Lumley

In this insightful memoir, Zandra shares her life story for the first time. Told through a variety of mementos collected over the years, it is a vibrant account filled with rockstars and royalty, of life-changing friendships and poignant reflections on her personal triumphs and tragedies, as well as the fears, sacrifices and pressures that come with being an era-defining designer.

Full of poignant reflections and life lessons on achieving success while defying convention, Zandra recounts being inspired by her avant-garde mother to her time at the Royal College alongside David Hockney; from a road trip to Rome with Ossie Clark and Celia Birtwell, to opening her first London store thanks to a loan from Vanessa Redgrave with Joe Cocker singing With a Little Help From My Friends to the assembled crowd of London's 1960s fashion scene; from hanging out with Andy Warhol and Halston in New York's Studio 54 to lifelong friendships with legends such as Karl Lagerfeld and Diana Vreeland; from designing for everyone from Freddie Mercury to Diana Ross, Princess Diana to Barbra Streisand to founding the Fashion and Textile Museum.

Capturing the rich and unexpected life of a British icon, this memoir explores what it is to defy the norm.

‘Zandra Rhodes has changed the course of fashion history.' Suzy Menkes, fashion journalist

  • Published: 18 July 2024
  • ISBN: 9781529915037
  • Imprint: Transworld Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 352

About the author

Zandra Rhodes

Dame Zandra Rhodes has been a leading figure of the fashion industry for over five decades, celebrating her 50th year in fashion in September 2019 with a retrospective exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London, which she founded. Her skill as a print designer, perfection of the art-of-print as an intrinsic influence on garment shape and affinity for colour has resulted in a signature aesthetic that is undeniably unique and continues to stand the test of time. She has dressed some of the world’s most stylish men and women from Freddie Mercury, Elizabeth Taylor and Diana Ross to Bianca Jagger, Debbie Harry and Princess Diana. She has also created costumes, winning an Emmy Award in the process. She has appeared in multiple television shows, from the cult series Absolutely Fabulous to Masterchef and The Real Marigold Hotel. In 2015, she was made a Dame in recognition of her contribution to fashion and textiles.

Praise for Iconic

'The most extraordinary designer of her generation. This is a book that everybody would be absolutely taken by.'

Manolo Blahnik, designer

'Zandra Rhodes is a living legend and her inspirational work in fashion, deeply woven into the cultural and musical fabric of the last 50 years, is still as potent and fresh as ever. This book detailing her fascinating life and development as an artist cannot fail to ignite interest all around the world.'

Brian May, musician