UNITED KINGDOM: Exhibition celebrating life of fashion muse Isabella Blow set to open

Record ID: 187299

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Exhibition celebrating life of fashion muse Isabella Blow set to open
  • Date: 19th November 2013
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (SEPTEMBER 23, 2005) (REUTERS) ISABELLA BLOW AT A CATWALK SHOW LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (FEBRUARY 20, 2001) (REUTERS) DESIGNER ALEXANDER MCQUEEN AT FASHION SHOW LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (FEBRUARY 19, 2001) (REUTERS) SOPHIE DAHL ON CATWALK FOR MATTHEW WILLIAMSON
  • Embargoed: 4th December 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA2F786S48DHON8UMD1Y9JP6BRK
  • Story Text: A hat topped with a lobster shell and an armadillo handbag made of real armadillo went on display in London this week to honour the memory of the late fashion eccentric and trend-setter Isabella Blow.
    Also on display is Blow's covetable collection of clothing by fashion luminaries such as Alexander McQueen, whose first designs she famously bought outright for 5,000 pounds ($8,100) and paid off in 100 pound ($160) installments each week.
    Blow committed suicide in 2007 at age 48. When her wardrobe went up for sale two years ago, her close friend Daphne Guinness bought the entire collection to preserve her memory as an inspiration to fashion students.
    Shonagh Marshall, the co-curator of the exhibition alongside Alistair O'Neill, said of the collection: "It's a real snippet, a moment in time and it seems like a time that's passed even though it wasn't so long ago. There's a sense of spontaneity and creativity that really comes through in this early, mid and late nineties 'Cool Brittania' British fashion design and I think Isabella Blow's collection which makes up the main part of this exhibition is just an amazing snapshot of that time and very rare."
    More than 100 pieces from Blow's personal collection feature in the exhibition celebrating the life and style of a woman widely considered to be one of the industry's most influential personalities.
    Blow, who worked as a fashion director for fashion magazines Vogue, Tatler and The Sunday Times Style during her career, was famous for discovering and nurturing young talents such as McQueen, milliner Philip Treacy and avant garde designer Hussein Chalayan.
    However, her ambitious style sometimes got her into trouble - the exhibition features a fax addressed to Blow about her lack of attention to the cost of projects.
    Marshall explained "With Isabella it was just 'Let's do it. It's great creatively and let's think about the practicalities later.' And I think that fantasy, that fantastical nature may have gone to the way side but it might be a great spurring on or source of inspiration for students and young people to continue that legacy because it's very important."
    Blow was famous for her eccentric sense of style, consisting often of a Philip Treacy hat, Alexander McQueen clothes and Manolo Blahnik shoes, which Marshall recreated for the show.
    "Isabella Blow Fashion Galore" at Somerset House in London runs from Nov 20 until March 2.
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