Happy 85th birthday to effervescent and eccentric fuchsia-haired doyenne of British fashion, Dame Zandra Rhodes (born 19 September 1940). She is of course the undisputed queen of the elaborately bejeweled filmy chiffon caftan, but I prefer Rhodes’ response to the rise of punk in 1977. To the revulsion of punk purists, Rhodes launched her own deluxe haute couture interpretation of punk fashion, with artful jagged rips and tears, embellished with glittering safety pins and chains! Some have claimed this made her “the high priestess of punk”, although I suspect the late Vivienne Westwood would have disagreed. Anyway, over the decades her clientele has numbered international jet set superstar names like Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Ross, Jacqueline Kennedy, Cher, Bianca Jagger, Barbra Streisand and Princesses Margaret and Diana. The one bad experience with a star Rhodes admits to? “I did have the awful experience of dressing Zsa Zsa Gabor,” she told The Guardian in 2024. “She was like a kitten when you put the clothes on her, but once the men disappeared out of the room she’d say: “I hate this dress.”” As far as I’m concerned, no one looked better in Rhodes’ signature caftans than freak diva Divine! (Rhodes and Divine were friends in the 1980s. Over the years I’ve spotted Rhodes multiple times backstage at John Waters’ events in London, accompanied by Helena Kennedy QC and the late transgender trailblazer April Ashley). If you’re in London, visiting the bright orange Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey (which Rhodes founded in 2003) is a must. Rhodes actually resides upstairs in a penthouse apartment. Every winter she throws open the doors to the public for her annual Christmas pop-up sale. My friend Anne Kathrin and I attended in November 2024 and seized the opportunity to snoop around! The view from her balcony is spectacular! And in person, Rhodes is tiny (4ft 11in). Oh, and if you want to get the "Zandra Rhodes look", her hair dye is Pinkissimo by Crazy Colour! Portrait of Rhodes by Chris Bissell, 2025.
