Walking along Bermondsey Street, it’s hard to miss the Fashion and Textile Museum. A tangerine block of tremendous proportions, it towers over its genteel Georgian neighbours. But that’s not the only thing that sets it apart. Just as Windsor Castle has its fluttering flag, so this palace of print and pattern has its ensign: a starry explosion of yucca leaves that poke their spiky heads over the penthouse balcony wall, heralding the presence of punk royalty within. This is the home of Dame Zandra Rhodes.
Some of you may remember our visit to her apartment last year, when we were wowed by the designer’s utterly infectious approach to collecting: more is more is this woman’s motto, whether it’s colour or crockery, pebbles or plants. Every corner of her home is crammed with beloved keepsakes, mementos, mosaics, photos and artworks, each a reminder of a treasured place or face. In fact, so enchanted were we by what we found, we invited ourselves back for a second helping, this time to quiz Zandra on the finer details of her domestic set-up, hoping to gain a deeper glimpse of what life is really like up on that roof of hers. Reader, we were not disappointed.
My most recent home improvement…
Finally getting my bedroom done. I travelled all over the place before Covid and was backwards and forwards to California all the time, which was where my late boyfriend, Salah Hassanein, lived. Because I wasn’t in London much, my bedroom was very ad hoc. My bed was really just a load boxes of clothes covered with foam.
When it came to redoing it, as well as putting up all the pictures I’d been saving, I furnished it with all sorts of things I’d designed over the years – the bed I’d done for Savoir Beds, a gorgeous screen, a rug I’d designed for Fuli, and one of my wallpapers for Rebel Walls, which the company said I could have in any colour I like. I firmly believe that if you design things, you design them because you believe in them, so why wouldn’t you live with them?
It was a really an exciting adventure. And now I’ve got a smart bedroom! I feel very spoiled.
