A bit of a shock this morning as we have all awoken to news that Isabella Blow (one of my style heroines…. and I don’t have many), died yesterday of ovarian cancer at the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital at the age of 48. There’s no need to bring out the rollcall but her fashion discoveries can’t be denied; Alexander McQueen, Philip Treacy, Sophie Dahl. You also can’t forget the signature ‘Blow’ look of hat, lipstick and risk-taking outfits.
Why I love her so can be discovered here so I won’t extoll too much only to say, my heart goes out to her friends and family, especially her husband Detmar. My closest contact to her was sitting a row behind her at a Manish Arora show. I guess I should have gingerly tapped the shoulders of her vintage Chinese satin cape and then meekly said ‘Your hat….it’s breathtaking.’ Of course the hat comment would have been meant as a subtler, less-fangirl version of ‘I adore your style!’. Sadly, I was too in awe to do the shoulder tap and now it’s too late.
The British fashion world, or for that matter, the fashion world in general for has indeed lost someone irreplacable.
(I love these pictures shot by Steven Meisel in 1993.)
