ISABELLA BLOW
Memories of the fashion visionary
by KOD Staff
Wild and eccentric, Isabella Blow was a creative visionary. A style icon, her talent leaked beyond her dressing room to carve an enviable career in global fashion magazines, from Vogue to Tatler. As fashion director, her shoots pushed boundaries – they were bold, provocative and extravagant.
She discovered a new world of British talent, drawing our attention to Alexander McQueen, Sophie Dahl and Stella Tennant. She also formed close working relationships with the likes of Andy Warhol, Jean Michel Basquiat and Philip Treacy – whose hat designs were some of her favorite.
Yet this remarkable woman was hounded by doubt. Wrought with insecurity, she believed “If you’re beautiful you don’t need clothes. If you’re ugly, like me, you’re a house with no foundations; you need something to build you up”. After struggling with depression throughout her adult life, Blow died of drinking weed killer at the age of 48. It was her 7th attempt of suicide in the last 14th months.
By Phil Poynter, 1992
Hat by Philip Treacy, 2002
By Arthur Elgort
By Diego Uchitel, 2002
The wedding of Isabella and Detmar Blow at Gloucester Cathedral, 1989
With Alexander McQueen
Steven Meisel, 'Paradise Feathers', 1993
Portrait by Chris Moore, Hat by Philip Treacy
By Steven Meisel, 1990s
