The late Isabella Blow
muse & legend to fashionistas everywhere
 |
| Isabella Blow in a hat by Philip Treacy |
Born in Marylebone, London England in 1958. Isabella Blow grew up fond of fashion, often reminiscing about playing with her mothers pink hat as a child had propelled her to pursue a life and career in the fashion industry.
She moved to New York City in 1979 to study Art History at Columbia University. She worked and played in the New York scene; befriending filmmaker Andy Warhol and graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Ms. Blow was briefly employed as assistant to Editor and Chief of American Vogue Anna Wintour and Andre Leon Talley (before his career at American Vogue). Determined to establish herself in the fashion world Isabella returned to London in 1986 and began working for the Tatler.
Always modern and forward thinking, Ms. Blow is credited with discovering and nurturing some of the most influential designers of our generation. Isabella discovered the late Alexander McQueen in London; purchasing his entire graduate collection for £5,000 and paying it off in £100 payments a week. She met hat designer Philip Treacy during a brief meeting for the Tatler and later commissioned him to create a hat that she would wear at the wedding of her second husband; Demar Blow. Treacy's hats soon became Blow's exclamation point on her signature flamboyant look. With her ability to spot trends and love for unconventional beauty, Blow is responsible for launching the modeling careers of of the androgynous Stella Tennant and full-figured beauty Sophie Dahl.
Isabella Blow's life was not without anxiety - Disinherited from her fathers massive estate, unable to bear a child to continue the lineage of her husbands name (he was son of the late 20th century architect Demar Blow) and the waning of her celebrity; she felt she could not find a home in a world she influenced. Suffering from depression, Blow attempted suicide on several occasions.
She succeeded May 7, 2007.
The biography Blow by Blow penned by Demar Blow and Tom Sykes is available in bookstores now.
Alexander McQueen in his own design
with Sophia Blow in McQueen and hat by Philip Treacy
Photo Courtesy of Assouline
 |
| Isabella Blow with Philip Treacy Photo courtesy of New York Times |
Isabella Blow wearing a Philip Treacy creation
Photo Courtesy of Steven Meisel
No comments:
Post a Comment