Last week on Friday 18th May, I worked on one of the evening events the V&A holds which was a talk by Zandra Rhodes. I also
watched the talk, it was in the The Lydia & Manfred Gorvy Lecture
Theatre. Zandra had her trademark pink hair, paired with a vivid green patterned chiffon dress of her own design and matching jewellery. The picture above is of her design for a new first class stamp, I particularly like the Alexander McQueen design as part of the range.
The evening talk was a opportunity to join Zandra Rhodes as she discussed the future of British Design, with relation to her own personal collections. It was organised by V&A Membership as part of Members’ Week 2012. Part of British Design Season at the V&A.
She was a lovely lady, who was very grounded and had a wide knowledge of the fashion industry from the design process through to the production of garments. The lecture was interesting as she showed a lot of her drawings and talked about her inspirations/starting points.
At the end of the talk was a q&a, there was quite a lot of people asked questions in regard to where she thinks the fashion industry is heading and also how to start out in the industry.
Some key points she spoke of, that stood out to me were:
- Take advantage of opportunities that come along.
- Wear the things you make.
- Surround yourself with people who do the same things and with interests similar to yourself.
- Small and craft based is current at the moment.
- French fashion is supported by drink, perfume and handbags.
- Be positive and go forward by whatever way possible.