Remembering Isabella Blow

I love reading about people in the fashion industry that inspire me and am constantly on the search for the next new book. One of the books that struck a chord inside be was the one on the legendary Isabella Blow (Blow By Blow - The Story Of Isabella Blow written by husband Detmar Blow).

I’m not sure what about her really got me to be such a huge fan. Was it her penchant for over the top hats, was it the craziness in her personality paired with the darkness she was so often consumed with, was it that she discovered Lee McQueen and Philip Treacy and many more talents? Or was it simply because she herself was one of the most creatively dressed women I have read about? What was it? All I knew is that one glimpse of her picture and I was a die hard fan.

isabella+blow+bill+cunningham+fashion+week

A Bill Cunningham image from one of the fashion weeks

A little while ago, the late fashion queen's clothes and accessories were being sold off at a Christie's auction in England to settle some finances, when her good friend and heir to the Guinness empire, Daphne Guinness bought the entire collection. The Isabella Blow Foundation & Central Saint Martins then teamed up with Somerset House to present an exhibit of her wardrobe named Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore which is now open to public until 2nd March 2014.

Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore

From her complicated, to say the least, aristocratic upbringing to her perpetually broke days before she committed suicide, Issy’s life was one hell of a roller coaster. She started her career under Anna Wintour and has worked with some of the best fashion publications in the world including the renowned Tatler, British Vogue and then The Sunday Times. The book left a lasting impression on my heart and in this short post I want to talk about some of my favorite anecdotes from the book.

The first one being her discovery of Lee McQueen. Only Issy could have made a remarkable discovery like that. She liked outrageous fashion, fashion that was pretty much unwearable the first time she saw it, fashion that broke all the rules of the fashion rule book, fashion that had overwhelming shock value. She quoted once in an interview "I hate crap. I like craftsmanship with a little room for fantasy". I guess London was the best place for such discoveries. Issy was not one to enjoy the confinement of an office and go through look books et al to find new talent. She preferred to be scouting the streets of London for that. In June 1992, she attended the graduation show at Central Saint Martins and came home in awe of a particular collection she had just witnessed. That student was none other than Alexander McQueen. So in love with his collection she was, she ended up buying the whole thing (they say it costed 5000 pounds) and poor McQueen would come around the Vogue offices to collect the cash in installments with clothes in a bin liner! I cringe just at the thought of a simple McQueen top barely grazing a bin liner!! Despite the fact that his clothes were initially despised by the fashion fraternity especially his "Highland Rape" collection and another one which depicted slavery, she still had faith in the designer. Today, the brand is iconic to say the least.

Burning Down The House - Photographed by David LaChapelle

Another one of her greatest discovery was milliner Philip Treacy who she stumbled upon at the Tatler office (this was before she came across McQueen). Treacy was there to collect a hat that he created for a shoot and shortly after that Issy started ringing him to create exceptionally unusual head gear (it was to be medieval) for her wedding (her wedding dress is another story all together!). The final creation involved her head and neck be bandaged in pale pink chiffon, whilst the real head gear was kind of like a gold crown with intricately cut gold lace filigree on the sides. Talk about a crazy wedding hat! She paid all of 60 pounds for it.

The wedding day - Wearing a Philip Treacy hat

In a Philip Treacy "Arrows Of Love" hat

An eternal friendship

Moving on to her wedding dress. No white, no tulle no pearls. Dark violet velvet with an embroidered necklace with faux stones on it inspired by Moghul India was what she wore instead. It was created by Nadia La Valle.

The unusual wedding gown

One of the most recurring names you read in the book is Hilles, the stately home in Gloucestershire owned by Detmar's mum. She had fallen in love with or rather was obsessed with the estate and spent a lot of her own money to restore it and breathed new life into it. It came with William Morris carpets and spectacular 17th century Mortlake tapestries on the wall depicting scenes from the bible. This undying love for Hilles has a lot to do with her own family closing up their ancestral home, Doddington Hall which had a huge impact on her mentally as one discovers in the book. I guess it served as some sort of a replacement. Overtime, this became a party hub for the who's who of the fashion and society circuit such as Malcom McLaren, Sophie Dahl (one of the models she discovered and who she claimed was "a blow up doll with brains), Stella Tennant and so on.

An aerial view of Hilles

One of the saddest parts I read about was her manic depression which manifested itself throughout the years. It lead her to 7 failed suicide attempts and one that eventually took her life. She had this great love for life and adventure which would get crushed as she came face to face with numerous heart breaks. Losing her baby brother, her own mother abandoning her with just a cold goodbye, her wealthy father barely leaving her any money upon his death were some of the events that took a toll on her.Once McQueen was famous, she felt that he had no use for her anymore. After he moved on to Givenchy, she was hoping he might get her a job but there was nothing. Only a free dress here and there. Her fragile relationship with Lee, impacted her drastically. She felt everyone was moving on and forgetting her.

She exchanged her Manolo's for flats after a suicide attempt that lead to broken ankles

This exhibition is to celebrate the style icon's exceptional wardrobe. It's to celebrate that she will NEVER be forgotten. It's to celebrate her discoveries. To celebrate her love for craftsmanship. To celebrate one of the most influential and original women in the fashion industry. Her clothes comprised of some of the most avant-garde creations and she always topped her outfits with a flamboyant Philip Treacy hat which became her signature. I wish I could be in London during the period of the exhibit. It would have been a dream come true for me to see her clothes and hats up close. Thank you Daphne Guinness for reminding the world again of the unforgettable element of grandeur that Isabella Blow brought into the fashion industry.