WHO WOULD ISABELLA BLOW BE WITHOUT ALEXANDER MCQUEEN & PHILIP TREACY? By: Hannah Julien ! The “Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore!” Exhibit, at Somerset House, was on another level of

insane beauty. The exhibit featured photos, videoclips, and the most beautiful collection of garments

and hats from style guru Isabella Blow’s life. It showed her journey to becoming what she is known

as today, a style icon. Isabella Blow, to put it plainly, discovered talent, unconventional, raw talent,

which she shared with the world.

The exhibit lead you through Isabella’s life, and at each stage, showed off the inspired and

timeless fashion that was her wardrobe. Although she was born into the privilege of a noble English

family, after her grandfather squandered away all of the family fortune, it was necessary for Blow to

earn her own living. When she choose her career in fashion, she never looked back. Blow worked

for many fashion magazines, her first being American Vogue, assistant to Anna Wintour, then onto

Tatler, followed by British Vogue, and The Sunday Times Style Section. Affectionately know as

“Issy” to the ones closest to her, Blow was loved by most, but admired by all. “Think of a warbler

that had fallen from a nest that you, as a child, found and took in. That was Isabella.” Vogue’s André

Leon Talley tenderly wrote in tribute to the late Blow.

The exhibit featured an extensive amount of items from both Alexander McQueen’s fashion

collections and Philip Treacy’s millinery collections, as well as item from fashion designers Julien

Macdonald and Hussein Chalayan, all of which were once items from Blow’s personal collection.

The most intriguing parts of the show were Alexander McQueen’s master’s-degree collection, which

Blow bought in its entirety, the hats the Philip Treacy made specifically for Blow, such as The Ship,

and The Castle, as well as McQueen’s Spring 2008 collection, which he dedicated to Blow after her

passing.

The exhibit showed just how extravagant and passionate Blow was. “She had an original

point of view. She was on the side of the young, creative person who she saw it as her duty to

! ! � | �1 2

encourage, introduce, and [be a] cheerleader. When she believed in you, it was like a whirlwind

romance. Her personality transcended any clothes or hats.” said Treacy about Blow’s nurturing heart.

One cannot discuss Isabella Blow without talking about her protégés. The exhibit itself,

seemed to be more about Alexander McQueen and Philip Treacy’s fashion than it did Isabella’s life.

That begs the question, is Isabella Blow known for discovering Alexander McQueen and Philip

Treacy, or are McQueen and Treacy known because Isabella Blow discovered them?

Blow played an integral role of creating the international reputations of both McQueen and

Treacy. She launched them into the fashion world; they each went from graduates to designers in

under ten years. Blow acted as a muse for both McQueen and Treacy, she loved the very dearly.

This is an exhibition that unravels what Blow was really passionate about. So, can the

unconventional Isabella Blow be understood without considering her discoveries? Never.

! ! � | �2 2