The muse of hat designer Philip Treacy, she is credited with discovering the models Stella Tennant and Sophie Dahl as well as the fashion designer Alexander McQueen.
Isabella Blow was born on November 19, 1958, in London, England. After moving to New York City in 1979, she began her fashion career under Anna Wintour of Vogue magazine. Returning to London in 1986, she eventually became fashion director of Tatler magazine. Blow was a fashion icon—known for her flamboyant hats—and served as the muse of designer Philip Treacy. She is also credited with discovering designer Alexander McQueen. Blow battled depression throughout her life and she committed suicide in 2007.
In 1989, Blow married her second husband, art dealer Detmar Hamilton Blow, in Gloucester Cathedral; he is a grandson (and namesake) of the early 20th-century society architect Detmar Blow. Philip Treacy designed the bride's wedding headdress and a now-famous fashion relationship was forged. Realizing Treacy's talent, Blow established Treacy in her London flat, where he worked on his collections. She soon began wearing Treacy's hats, making them a signature part of her flamboyant style.
She not only supported the fashion world, but she also supported the art world. Artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster created a shady artwork which was displayed in the National Portrait Gallery.
In 2004, she had a brief acting cameo in the film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
Shortly before her death, she was the creative director and stylist of a series of books, an Arabic magazine by name Alef, about beauty in the Arab world; the books were being produced by Kuwaiti fashion entrepreneur Sheikh Majed al-Sabah.
Toward the end of her life, Blow had become more weak......
She seriously depressed and was reportedly anguished over her inability to "find a home in a world she influenced". Daphne Guinness, a friend of Blow's stated, "She was upset that Alexander McQueen didn't take her along when he sold his brand to Gucci. Once the deals started happening, she fell by the wayside. Everybody else got contracts, and she got a free dress". According to a 2002 interview with Tamsin Blanchard, it was Blow who brokered the deal in which Gucci purchased McQueen's label.
Depressed over her waning celebrity status and her cancer diagnosis, Blow began telling friends that she was suicidal. In 2006, Blow attempted suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills. Later that year, Blow again attempted suicide by jumping from the Hammersmith Flyover, which resulted in her breaking both ankles.
In 2007, Blow made several more suicide attempts by driving her car into the rear of a truck, attempting to obtain horse tranquilizers, trying to drown herself in a lake and by overdosing while on a beach in India.
Death
On 6 May 2007, during a weekend house party at Hilles, where the guests included Treacy and his life partner, Stefan Bartlett, Blow announced that she was going shopping. Instead, she was later discovered collapsed on a bathroom floor by her sister Lavinia and was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, where Blow told the doctor she had drunk the weedkiller Paraquat. She died at the hospital the following day.
Blow's death was initially reported as being caused by ovarian cancer, however, a coroner later ruled the death a suicide. At the inquest, Blow's sister, Lavinia Verney, stated that after she discovered her sister had ingested the poison, Blow had told her, "I'm worried that I haven't taken enough."
Her funeral was held at Gloucester Cathedral on 15 May 2007. Her casket, made of willow, was surmounted by one of her Philip Treacy hats instead of a floral tribute, and her pallbearers included her godson Otis Ferry, a son of the rock star Bryan Ferry. (In 2010, Bryan Ferry dedicated his Olympia album in memoriam Isabella Blow and David Williams.) Actor Rupert Everett and actress Joan Collins delivered eulogies. Opera singer Charles Eliasch sang. A memorial service was held in the Guards Chapel in London on 18 September 2007, where Anna Wintour and Geordie Greig spoke. Wintour's eulogy and part of the memorial service can be seen in DVD disc two of The September Issue.
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