Last Sunday I visited the Isabella Blow exhibition at the delightful Somerset House in London. Somerset House, being the host of the popular outdoor ice rink when it comes to London, is a beautiful exhibition space with a giant courtyard in the middle.
Isabella Blow was a magazine editor and champion of the late Alexander McQueen (whom she bought the whole Graduate collection of). Isabella was at the forefront of fashion in the 90s, attended all of the shows and created the career of Stella Tennant. She ultimately, after many attempts, took her own life in 2007. The exhibition is a collection of her outfits, many with amazing Philip Treacy creations. Milliner Phillip describes Isabella as his muse and she proudly wore many of his outlandish hats. Isabella was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but that was soon swiped away, the exhibition contains childhood photos and history of her family, even recordings of her talking about her childhood. This in-depth background of her life at the beginning of the exhibition really builds your empathy towards Isabella, although she lived a life steeped in glamour (or so it seemed) there was a damaged edge, a fraying of her outfits that endears you to her. The 90s are are in the middle of a resurgence and growing up in that era I loved walking through the many rooms and watching the many videos from the period, it's what I had seen in magazines but never fully experienced, it's a 90s that I never knew.
Unfortunately photography isn't allowed in the exhibition, but I sneakily snapped a few of these, sorry for the quality, I couldn't sneak my SLR in there covertly.
Tim Noble sculpture at the entrance of the exhibition
One of Isabella's outfits with a Philip Treacy hat
Stella Tennant in Vogue styled by Isabella
One of Isabella's outfits
A paper bird sculpture elsewhere in Somerset House
