(NEW YORK) In partnership with the Isabella Blow Foundation and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London’s Somerset House will display select items of the late Isabella Blow’s wardrobe this fall. The exhibit, titled “Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore!”, will showcase 100 designer pieces from labels including Alexander McQueen, Philip Treacy, Jeremy Scott, Julien Macdonald, Viktor & Rolf, Fendi, Hussein Chalayan, Escada, Prada, and Marni. Plus, Shone Heath, the set designer for the show, is expected to create bespoke Blow mannequins to don complete outfits once worn by the prolific style maven.
Isabella Blow began her fashion career in the 1980s assisting Anna Wintour at Vogue before decamping to Tatler where she served as fashion editor and later fashion director. She is best known for her eccentric wardrobe and her keen eye, scouting out young talent like Stella Tennant, Sophie Dahl, and Alexander McQueen, whose graduate collection she bought for £5,000.
In 2007, after years of battling depression, Blow committed suicide. The Isabella Blow Foundation was established by longtime friend Daphne Guinness in 2012 to support aspiring art and fashion students and to raise awareness and allocate financial resources to charities working within the areas of mental health and depression. “The exhibition will be bittersweet,” said Guinness, who bought Blow’s wardrobe at an auction in June 2010. “Showcasing her clothes is what she would have wanted.”
The “Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore!” exhibit is scheduled to run from November 20, 2013 to March 2, 2014.
