The University of the Creative Arts has been given £110,000 to digitise the work of its chancellor, the legendary British designer Zandra Rhodes.

Researchers will spend 15 months working with the designer, who has designed creations for Diana, Princess of Wales, Jackie Onassis, Freddie Mercury, Kylie Minogue and Sarah Jessica Parker, and trained at one of the UCA founder colleges, the Medway College of Design.

The British designer was made UCA's first chancellor in 2010.

The team will be sorting through over 2,500 creations spanning five decades to select 500 for photographing and cataloguing.

Digital images produced will be stored in a public database providing a resource to fashion students.

Professor Kerstin Mey, director of research and enterprise at UCA, said: “We are delighted to be working with Zandra on this exciting project.

“This digital archive will track a vital dimension of the evolution of British fashion and capture some of its landmark moments.

“It will provide inspiration and learning for new and emerging generations of professional fashion designers, but will also complement research on the overarching cultural situation and zeitgeist of the later 20th century and early 21st Century.”

The project has been funded by digital experts, JISC, who specialise in driving innovation in UK education and research.