Isabella Blow

{{Infobox person

| name = Isabella Blow

| image = 2005 Stuckist Turner demo (1) Ausschnitt Isabella Blow.jpg

| caption = Blow in 2005

| birthname = Isabella Delves Broughton

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1958|11|19}}

| birth_place = Marylebone, London, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2007|05|07|1958|11|19}}

| death_place = Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England

| resting_place = Gloucester Cathedral

| spouse = {{plainlist|

{{marriage|Nicholas Taylor|1981|1983|end=divorced}}
{{marriage|Detmar Blow|1989}}

}}

| years active = 1993–2007

}}

Isabella Blow (née Delves Broughton; 19 November 1958 – 7 May 2007){{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/main.jhtml?xml=/fashion/2007/05/07/efisabella107.xml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070510033505/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/main.jhtml?xml=%2Ffashion%2F2007%2F05%2F07%2Fefisabella107.xml|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 May 2007|title=Death of an Original|author=Hilary Alexander|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=7 May 2007|location=London|access-date=5 August 2021}}{{cite web|url=http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2007/05/isabella_blow_fashions_nutty_aunt_is_dead.html|title=Isabella Blow, 'Fashion's Nutty Aunt,' Is Dead|last=Mays Powell|first=Harriet|author2=Larocca, Amy|date=7 May 2007|publisher=nymag.com|access-date=2 June 2013}} was an English magazine editor. She was mentor to Philip Treacy, and is credited with discovering the models Stella Tennant and Sophie Dahl, and fashion designer Alexander McQueen, beginning when she bought the entirety of his graduate show inspired by Jack the Ripper.

Early life

Born Isabella Delves Broughton in Marylebone, London, she was the eldest child of Major Sir Evelyn Delves Broughton, a military officer, and his second wife, Helen Mary Shore, a barrister. Sir Evelyn was the only son of Sir Jock Delves Broughton; his sister, Rosamond, married the 15th Lord Lovat in 1938.

Blow was also known as 'Issy'.Unattributed, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110809080303/http://www.elleuk.com/news/fashion-news/issy-blow-remembered-by-the-fashion-world/(gid)/325186 Issy Blow Remembered by the Fashion World]," Elle (UK), 19 September 2007Detmar Blow, [https://web.archive.org/web/20081011141731/http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article1781427.ece Hidden torment of a fashion queen]," The Sunday Times, 13 May 2007 Blow had two sisters, Julia and Lavinia; her brother, John, drowned in the family's swimming pool at the age of two. This had a profound effect on her.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1571650/Isabella-Blow-feared-her-fading-public-status.html|title=Isabella Blow 'feared her fading public status'|author=Richard Savill|date=6 December 2007|work=Telegraph.co.uk}} In 1972, when she was 14, her parents separated and her mother left the household, bidding each daughter farewell with a handshake. Her parents divorced two years later. Isabella did not get along with her father, who bequeathed her only £5,000 from his estate, which was worth more than one million pounds.{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20070513/ai_n19116271|title=A tortured life, a lonely death, a private funeral|last=Moreton|first=Cole|date=13 May 2007|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=29 April 2008}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}

Blow studied for her A-levels at Heathfield School, after which she enrolled at a secretarial college and then took odd jobs.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/isabella-blow-448022.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805050620/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/isabella-blow-448022.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 August 2009|title=Isabella Blow: Obituary|date=9 May 2007|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=29 April 2008 | location=London}} She told Tamsin Blanchard of The Observer in 2002:

I've done the most peculiar jobs. I was working in a scone shop for years, selling apricot-studded scones. I was a cleaner in London for two years. I wore a handkerchief with knots on the side, and my cousin saw me in the post office and said, What are you doing? I said, What do you think I look like I'm doing? I'm a cleaner!{{cite news|url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,742157,00.html|title=Blow by Blow|last=Blanchard|first=Tasmin|date=23 June 2002|newspaper=The Observer|access-date=29 April 2008 | location=London}}

Career

Blow moved to New York City in 1979 to study Ancient Chinese Art at Columbia University and shared a flat with the actress Catherine Oxenberg. A year later, she left the Art History programme at Columbia, moved to Texas, and worked for Guy Laroche. In 1981 she married her first husband, Nicholas Taylor (whom she divorced in 1983), and was introduced to the fashion director of the US edition of Vogue, Anna Wintour. Blow was hired initially as Wintour's assistant, but it was not long before she was assisting André Leon Talley, as of 2008 US Vogue{{'}}s editor-at-large. While working in New York, she befriended Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2007/05/08/db0802.xml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016063130/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=%2Fnews%2F2007%2F05%2F08%2Fdb0802.xml|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 October 2007|title=Isabella Blow|date=10 May 2007|newspaper=telegraph.co.uk|location=London|access-date=29 April 2008}}

She returned to London in 1986 and worked for Michael Roberts, then the fashion director of Tatler and The Sunday Times Style magazine.{{cite news|author= Guy Trebay|date=8 May 2007|title=Isabella Blow, Flamboyant Discoverer of Fashion Talent, Dies at 48|work= The New York Times}} During this period she was romantically linked to editor Tim Willis.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/fashion-blog/2014/dec/19/how-to-dress-your-way-out-of-a-breakup|title=How to dress your way out of a breakup|work=The Guardian|date = 19 December 2014 | access-date = 5 April 2015}}{{Better source needed|reason=WP:NEWSBLOG The Guardian is a good source, however if your going to use a Guardian news blog as a source. The author has to be a professional, however since the author isn’t a professional the source isn’t reliable.|date=November 2019}} In 1989, Blow married her second husband, barrister and art dealer Detmar Hamilton Blow,Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2005-2008, ed. Lawrence Goldman, Oxford University Press, pg 113 a grandson of the early 20th-century society architect Detmar Blow, in Gloucester Cathedral. 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.{{cite web|url=http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/b/marie-claire/3218/life-stories-isabella-blow|title=Life stories: Isabella Blow|date=14 November 2007|publisher=Marie Claire (Australia)|access-date=29 April 2008|archive-date=3 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080503225121/http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/b/marie-claire/3218/life-stories-isabella-blow|url-status=dead}} In a 2002 interview with Tamsin Blanchard, Blow declared that she wore extravagant hats for a practical reason:

[...] to keep everyone away from me. They say, Oh, can I kiss you? I say, No, thank you very much. That's why I've worn the hat. Goodbye. I don't want to be kissed by all and sundry. I want to be kissed by the people I love.

In 1993 she worked with the photographer Steven Meisel producing the Babes in London shoot, which featured Plum Sykes, Bella Freud and Honor Fraser. Blow had a natural sense of style and a good feeling for future fashion directions. She discovered Alexander McQueen and purchased his entire graduate collection for £5,000, paying it off in weekly £100 installments. Spotting Sophie Dahl, Blow described her as "a blow up doll with brains", and launched the model's career. Blow supported both the fashion world and the art world. Artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster created a shadow portrait of her which was displayed in the National Portrait Gallery.{{cite web|url=http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/display/20101/isabella-blow-by-noble-and-webster.php|title=National Portrait Gallery – Isabella Blow by Noble and Webster|work=npg.org.uk}} Blow was the fashion director of Tatler and consulted for DuPont Lycra, Lacoste, and Swarovski. She became the subject of an exhibition in 2002 entitled When Philip met Isabella, which featured sketches and photographs of her wearing Treacy's hat designs.{{cite web|url=http://www.designmuseum.org/design/philip-treacy |title=Philip Treacy: When Philip Met Isabella Design Museum Touring Exhibition |publisher=designmuseum.org |access-date=29 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080418040851/http://www.designmuseum.org/design/philip-treacy |archive-date=18 April 2008 }}

In 2004 Blow had an acting cameo playing a character called Antonia Cook in the film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.{{Cite news |last=Saner |first=Emine |date=2007-05-07 |title=Isabella Blow |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/may/08/guardianobituaries.fashion |access-date=2025-02-03 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} She starred in 2005 in a project by artist Matthieu Laurette, commissioned and produced by Frieze Projects 2005 and entitled "What Do They Wear at Frieze Art Fair?" It consisted of daily guided tours of Frieze Art Fair led by Blow and fellow international fashion experts Peter Saville, Kira Joliffe, and Bay Garnett.{{cite web|url=http://www.friezefoundation.org/commissions/detail/matthieu_laurette|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907183804/http://www.friezefoundation.org/commissions/detail/matthieu_laurette/|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 September 2008|title=Matthieu Laurette presents "What Do They Wear at Frieze Art Fair?"|publisher=friezefoundation.org|access-date=29 April 2008}} Shortly before her death, Blow was the creative director and stylist of a series of books for an Arabic beauty magazine, Alef; the books were being produced by Kuwaiti fashion entrepreneur Sheikh Majed al-Sabah.{{Cite magazine |last=Helmore |first=Edward |date=2014-07-17 |title=The Story of Isabella Blow |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2007/09/isabella-blow-story?srsltid=AfmBOortxmuMR0YWnYFH5rsKIaEFvs8FyJIBHISLAlNCXhr2r1XGfda2 |access-date=2025-02-04 |magazine=Vanity Fair |language=en-US}}

Illness

Toward the end of her life, Blow became 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".{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/fashion/10BLOW.html?ref=fashion|title=The Woman No Hat Could Tame|last=Horyn|first=Cathy|date=10 May 2007|newspaper=The New York Times}} According to a 2002 interview with Tamsin Blanchard, it was Blow who brokered the deal in which Gucci purchased McQueen's label. Other pressures on her included financial problems (Blow was disinherited by her father in 1994) and infertility.

Isabella and Detmar Blow separated in 2004. Detmar Blow went on to have an affair with Stephanie Theobald, the society editor of British Harper's Bazaar,{{cite magazine|title=Final Blow |last=Helmore |date=September 2007 |magazine=Vanity Fair|page=394}} while his estranged wife entered into a liaison with a gondolier she met in Venice. During the couple's separation, Blow was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and began undergoing electroshock therapy. For a time, the treatments appeared to be helpful. During this period she also had an affair with Matthew Mellon; however, after an eighteen-month separation,{{cite web|url=http://www.wmagazine.com/culture/2007/12/matthew_mellon/|title=Matthew Mellon|work=W Magazine|access-date=6 February 2015|archive-date=19 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150519002923/http://www.wmagazine.com/culture/2007/12/matthew_mellon|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article2224237.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814190225/http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article2224237.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 August 2007|title=Fashion Victim|date=12 August 2007|publisher=women.timesonline.co.uk/|access-date=29 April 2008 | location=London}} Isabella and Detmar Blow were reconciled. Soon afterward, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Depressed over her waning celebrity status{{cite news|url=http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article3006770.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615201605/http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article3006770.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 June 2011|title=Isabella Blow 'was depressed by fading fame'|last=Hines|first=Nico |date=5 December 2007 |work=The Times|access-date=29 April 2008 | location=London}} and her cancer diagnosis, Blow began telling friends that she was suicidal. In 2006 and 2007, Blow repeatedly tried to kill herself.{{cite web |last=Lifvergren |first=Emma |date=13 December 2007 |title=A fabulous, fashionable year in review: Death of Isabella Blow |url=http://media.www.dailycollegian.com/media/storage/paper874/news/2007/12/13/ArtsLiving/A.Fabulous.Fashionable.Year.In.Review-3143517-page2.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20090211055909/http://media.www.dailycollegian.com/media/storage/paper874/news/2007/12/13/ArtsLiving/A.Fabulous.Fashionable.Year.In.Review-3143517-page2.shtml |archive-date=11 February 2009 |access-date=29 April 2008 |publisher=dailycollegian.com}}

Death

On 6 May 2007, during a weekend house party at Hilles, where the guests included Treacy and his partner, Stefan Bartlett, Blow announced that she was going shopping. Instead, Blow was later discovered collapsed on a bathroom floor and was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, where she told the doctor she had drunk weed killer.{{cite web|url=http://nymag.com/news/features/34732/|title=The Sad Hatter|last=Larocca |first=Amy|date=16 July 2007|newspaper=New York Magazine}} She died at the hospital the following day. Blow's death was initially reported as being caused by ovarian cancer;{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/08/nblow08.xml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070510033548/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2007%2F05%2F08%2Fnblow08.xml|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 May 2007|title=Isabella Blow Loses Her Battle With Cancer|last=Bunyan|first=Nigel|author2=Davies, Caroline|date=10 May 2007|newspaper=The Telegraph|access-date=29 April 2008|location=London}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/may/12/uknews4.mainsection|title=Isabella Blow told doctors she had drunk weedkiller|last=McVeigh|first=Karen|date=12 May 2007|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=29 April 2008 | location=London}} however, a coroner later ruled the death a suicide.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/dec/05/1|title=Fashion guru killed herself, coroner rules|last=Truscott|first=Claire|date=5 December 2007|work=guardian.co.uk | location=London}}

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 as well as 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.{{cite news |title=BBC report on Isabella Blow's funeral |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/gloucestershire/6656797.stm |publisher=BBC|access-date=19 May 2007 | date=15 May 2007}} 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. Prince Michael and Princess Michael of Kent were in attendance. Wintour's eulogy and part of the memorial service can be seen in DVD disc two of The September Issue.{{cite news|url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/obituaries/article2080175.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207020805/http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/obituaries/article2080175.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 February 2015|title=Memorial service for Isabella Blow|date=17 September 2007|work=The Times|access-date=29 April 2008 | location=London}}

References

External links

{{IMDb name|1783203}}
[https://www.amazon.com/Isabella-Blow-Lauren-Goldstein-Crowe/dp/0312592949/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3 Isabella Blow, A Life In Fashion, Nov 8 2010]

Category:1958 births

Category:2007 deaths

Category:Vogue (magazine) people

Category:Fashion editors

Category:English magazine editors

Category:Daughters of baronets

Category:Muses (persons)

Category:People with bipolar disorder

Category:People from Marylebone

Category:Writers from the City of Westminster

Category:Suicides by poison

Category:Suicides in England