Today, a new exhibition showcasing the legendary wardrobe of Isabella Blow opens at Somerset House. The collection was originally bought by the style maverick's friend Daphne Guinness in a bid to stop it from being sold at a Christie's auction.
"The decision to put Isabella's wardrobe on display was a natural progression; it felt like what she would have wanted," Guinness told us. "I bought the collection because I couldn't bear for it to be dispersed; it was her life's work - her legacy. What better way of celebrating that legacy than allowing the world to view it?"
Guinness first came across Blow when she was just 16, but they didn't become firm friends until 1998 when they met again and Blow told Guinness that she looked like a grasshopper. After Blow's death in 2007, the heiress set about preserving the legacy of her friend - establishing the Isabella Blow Foundation - which encourages emerging fashion talent and raises awareness for mental illness - and working on a way of displaying her extraordinary wardrobe. Originally, the collection was to be shown at Central Saint Martins, but it was quickly decided that a larger space was needed and Somerset House stepped forward.
"My favourite piece in the collection is a McQueen black frock coat with gold frogging and a side train, as shown in his autumn/winter 1996 Dante collection," said Guinness. "It is one of the only pieces of Isabella's that I have been able to wear; I still find it difficult going through her things. I really love the red velvet coat by Deborah Milner. We decided to use a picture of her wearing it as the lead image to promote the exhibition; it epitomises Isabella, somehow."
Guinness also cited a black, structured jacket from McQueen's first graduate collection as a highlight ("The story goes that he stayed up all night before his MA show working on it. It's a masterpiece"), although co-curator Shonagh Marshall names a Swarovski-encrusted lobster hat and an embroidered kimono with a feather collar, designed by McQueen in his days at Givenchy, as two of her favourites.
"She would only wear clothes by people she liked or admired," said Marshall, who created the exhibition with Alistair O'Neill in just a year. "She was once quoted as saying, 'It's about the craft, not the crap', and that was something she stood by. The exhibition pays tribute to her idiosyncrasies, her quirks, her wit, her dark humour and also her love of grandeur. You don't get characters like that any more - there's no one of her infamy around in fashion now."
As well as displaying over 100 pieces from Blow's wardrobe, many of which are styled exactly how the fashion editor wore them, the exhibition is also littered with double-page spreads of her work. Celebrated set designer Shona Heath was hired to create unique installations.
"I hope that visitors learn something of the narrative that gave rise to such creative courage," said Guinness. "Ultimately, this is a celebration of Isabella and her vision. I want people to be uplifted by the exhibition, because hers was an extraordinary life."
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