If any of you were contemplating on visiting the Isabella Blow exhibition in London then read on & ensure you get there before it closes on 2nd March 2014. This is such a fascinating & iconic exhibition & a honourable homage to the late muse. Isabella (1958 - 2007) was a true dedicator to fashion, seeking out and promoting new fashion talent throughout her career. She worked as an editor for several major fashion magazines and used that position to promote, collaborate and drive the careers of many creatives way beyond their wildest dreams.
Isabella quickly became the muse of the hat designer Philip Treacy, and wore his eccentric designs making them a signature part of her own flamboyant style (it was rumoured that she once said that she enjoyed wearing the hats as they formed a barrier between her & the many that wanted to slap a kiss on her - she felt she preferred to be kissed by the people she loved!).
The exhibition is bursting with some of Treacy's finest examples of head wear. They display his fascination with aerodynamic volumes of shape & his ability to use Swarovski crystals to highlight & add dazzle to his creations. His hats are well crafted luxury items, that reflected his fascination with fantasy & aesthetic delight.
Isabella is seen here in one of the most intricate & wildest hats I've ever had the pleasure to view up close. The beauty of the exhibition is the visual & audio overload that the visitor is treated to - Treacy's hats are accompanied with fashion items ranging from Alexander McQueen to Hussein Chalayan, music from the many clips of fashion shows belt out of the many little gallery settings. Large scale fashion photography fills one of the galleries show casing some of the many models that Isabella discovered & promoted. Bryan Ferry (a blast from the past) wafts through the airwaves at the end of the exhibition almost hypnotising you, before being thrust into the 'pop-up' shop - beware it's a little pricey.
The exhibition showcases over 100 pieces from Isabella's rich collection, which forms one of the most important private collections of the late 20th century - early 21st century, showcasing many British Fashion designers. This collection is now owned by Daphne Guinness (to prevent it going under the auction hammer at Christie's) who said 'This exhibition is a bittersweet event. Isabella Blow made our world more vivid, trailing colour with every pace she took!'.
The exhibition starts with fascinating snap shots into Blow’s past with ephemera including a birth announcement in the Evening Standard and old photographs of Blow as a child on the Cheshire family estate, Doddington House. Walking through past an installation of Blow’s head by Tim Noble and Sue Webster, you arrive at outfits from McQueen’s breakthrough Dante collection of 1996. She purchased McQueen's entire St.Martin's graduate collection for £5,000 (paying it off in monthly instalments) - she was one of the most influential people in launching his international appeal & career. There is video footage from the show and you see Blow’s excited gesticulation and expressions of delight while steely fashion editors stare on glumly.
As well as displaying over 100 pieces from Blow's wardrobe, many of which are styled exactly how the fashion editor wore them, the exhibition is also littered with double-page spreads of her editorial work. Celebrated set designer Shona Heath was hired to create unique installations.
As well as displaying over 100 pieces from Blow's wardrobe, many of which are styled exactly how the fashion editor wore them, the exhibition is also littered with double-page spreads of her editorial work. Celebrated set designer Shona Heath was hired to create unique installations.
She was also known for her collaborations with photographers such as Steven Meisel, David LaChapelle, Sean Ellis, who pushed boundaries of convention in her increasingly provocative fashion spreads & establishing herself as a legendary figure within the international fashion & contemporary art worlds. See below some of the fine photography on show in one of the galleries, where the streets of London & the eccentric fashion models scream 'ultimate coolness' to the viewer.
There is also a range of Nick Knight's beautiful & evocative photographs that have been made into postcards for sale at the exit - see below:
The climax to the exhibition is a gallery of Blow-a-like black mannequins complete with red cut-out lips and wonky black bob featuring her most dazzling and photographed outfits.
The clothes, hats and shoes she collected were astonishing. Some of them challenge gravity itself. Others were outlandish in their audacity yet slyly witty – like the Rolls Royce hat by Treacy complete with the Silver Lady atop and a metal shield standing in as a veil. Some pieces were created by blow torching black lace. A dress by Chalayan actually had iron filings engrained into the fabric to create a rusted patina. This is fashion as living art, sculpted assiduously so their natural forms bend to their creator's will. Feathers assume volume, metal appears soft, fur becomes geometric.
However, it is their artistic expression that leaves an imprint on your brain as you stroll through the galleries. The pieces are by turn whimsical and morbid, at time both together. You’re never two steps away from something darker, especially with the Gothic brilliance of McQueen’s creations. Her collection is all so irresistible that you can't walk away without an emotional response. They provoke you.
If you are reading this & have applied to study fashion next year (or indeed you are already studying fashion then this exhibition is a MUST - people will talk about this for years to come & you should be able to discuss this from your own personal viewpoint).
The clothes, hats and shoes she collected were astonishing. Some of them challenge gravity itself. Others were outlandish in their audacity yet slyly witty – like the Rolls Royce hat by Treacy complete with the Silver Lady atop and a metal shield standing in as a veil. Some pieces were created by blow torching black lace. A dress by Chalayan actually had iron filings engrained into the fabric to create a rusted patina. This is fashion as living art, sculpted assiduously so their natural forms bend to their creator's will. Feathers assume volume, metal appears soft, fur becomes geometric.
However, it is their artistic expression that leaves an imprint on your brain as you stroll through the galleries. The pieces are by turn whimsical and morbid, at time both together. You’re never two steps away from something darker, especially with the Gothic brilliance of McQueen’s creations. Her collection is all so irresistible that you can't walk away without an emotional response. They provoke you.
If you are reading this & have applied to study fashion next year (or indeed you are already studying fashion then this exhibition is a MUST - people will talk about this for years to come & you should be able to discuss this from your own personal viewpoint).
Be prepared to be wowed, this is fashion in its purest and most captivating form.
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