Zandra Rhodes Archive Comes To Life At De Montfort University

A major archive belonging to one of Britain’s most recognisable fashion and textile designers has arrived in Leicester, with Zandra Rhodes: Archive Unfolded now on display at De Montfort University until 16th January 2027.

Presented by the Zandra Rhodes Foundation and De Montfort University, the free exhibition celebrates Rhodes’ substantial donation of archival material to the university’s Special Collections and highlights how the archive is becoming a resource for the next generation of fashion and creative students.

Spanning 1964 to 2025, the archive contains thousands of objects documenting Rhodes’ extraordinary career, including design collaborations, press coverage, photographic transparencies and material relating to her work in opera.

The exhibition is spread across the DMU campus, with displays at Leicester Gallery, the De Montfort University Museum and Trinity House. At Leicester Gallery, Zandra Rhodes: Design Collaborations explores her work with major brands including IKEA, TOPSHOP and Marks & Spencer, showing how her distinctive prints have been translated across different products and audiences.

The exhibition also draws on Rhodes’ extensive personal press archive, including a landmark 1970 Vogue feature featuring Natalie Wood and her 2021 HUNGER cover photographed by Rankin. Visitors can also see elements of Rhodes’ design process, including silk screens, printed silk chiffon banners and posters from her fashion shows and special projects.

Importantly for Leicester’s fashion community, the exhibition also looks forward as well as back. At Trinity House, DMU students have created responses to the Zandra Rhodes archive, demonstrating how historic fashion material can become a starting point for new ideas and creative practice.

Rhodes donated the archive following her Honorary Doctorate of the Arts from DMU in 2023, saying she wanted it to become a “hands-on resource for learning and creativity”.

For a university with a significant role in Leicester’s fashion and creative industries, the exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see the working history of an influential British designer while also seeing how that history can inform the designers of tomorrow.

Zandra Rhodes: Archive Unfolded is free and open to the public at De Montfort University until 16th January 2027.