Famed for her brilliantly bright hair and equally bold printed designs, Dame Zandra Rhodes is synonymous with 70s and 80s style, having dressed the likes of Jackie Kennedy , Freddie Mercury and Diana Ross . Her new memoir, Iconic: My Life In 50 Objects, explores her singular career, as well as family dynamics and romantic pursuits, through her most treasured possessions. “Mummy dressed to the nines in the most extraordinary clothes, which I hated because other people noticed her,” says Zandra, 84.
Her childhood aversion to being noticed may seem odd, but it’s what helped build who she is. “I used to ask her not to look so different from all the other mothers, but those are the things that lead you to experiment later in life. It must have been the influence of my mother in the background to everything.
” In contrast, Zandra declares the most difficult person to write about was her father. “I considered him unfairly – because he was a bit of what you call a rough diamond,” she says. “I think children are terrible snobs.
I felt he could have advanced himself more and he didn’t.” Zandra felt the influence of her mother more heavily, who always encouraged her work, whereas her father never mentioned it. “It’s only later in life listening to someone like my sister who said, ‘Oh, he was always talking about you’ that I realised he did take an interest.
” Colour has always been integral to Zandra’s work. Her Knitted Landscape scarf was part of her fir.