Fashion Galore - Isabella Blow

"Photograph of Self portrait on napkin, by Isabella Blow"

Fashion Galore at Somerset house show cases the life and inspirations of the late Isabella Blow. From the discovery of major style icons Phillip Treacy and Alexander McQueen to the relics of an old family estate which greatly influenced the majority of her work. Blow had a "traditionally edwardian" childhood, with parents who were high society, glamorous and mysterious, yet the exhibition reveals that her upbringing was decidedly unglamorous. Though her family had money for generations, her gambling grandfather lost most of it. When Isabella’s father died, she and her sisters were left only £5000 each. Isabella inherited her grandfather’s careless ways, and spent far too much on things she could never afford: a “very Bond” silver BMW, the most expensive hotel rooms in the world, and, of course, clothes—an infinite variety of clothes, many of which, “no matter how expensive, would frequently end up on the floor, ripped and covered in stains.” After working menial jobs around London, she gained entry into the fashion world by interning for Anna Wintour at US Vogue.

"Photograph of shoes from exhibition, shoes by Frizon, Maud,"

The exhibition is retrospective, nonetheless Blow's fearless, eccentric, provocative, humorous and almost impossible to miss style shines through with vigour. Exhibited, are selected garments from her very own wardrobe as well as memoirs disguised as jigsaws, piecing every aspect of her life together. Here show's an odd pair of Maud Frizon shoes worn by Blow, as she was soon promoted to stylist at VOGUE, working on fashion shoots by day and partying at night, she was spotted by Andy Warhol at a gathering wearing this pair of mismatched shoes… And the rest is history !

Then, in 1992, Isabella's attention was caught by another young designer; Alexander McQueen. She bought his postgraduate collection for ₤5,000 (which was paid in weekly instalments of ₤100 and delivered in bin bags) and set McQueen up in the same London flat so she could nurture him, too. By this time, she was working at British Vogue where she championed other up-and-coming designers, like Julien Macdonald, Hussein Chalayan and John Galliano. She also helped launch the modelling careers of Honor Fraser, Stella Tennant and Sophie Dahl

"SS/08 Collection, La Dame Bleue Phillip Treacy for Alexander McQueen."

Blow married at Gloucester Cathedral in 1989, dressed in a velvet gown and a gold headdress designed by Philip Treacy… This is when she discovered the Irish milliners talents. She offered him his own flat in London to design hats and would personally advertise his designs wherever she went, rarely leaving the house without one of his masterpieces placed on her head. "I'm a walking billboard," she declared. "That's my pleasure." Later in 1992, Isabella’s attention was drawn to another young designer; Alexander McQueen. She set McQueen up in the same London flat after purchasing his postgraduate collection for £5,000. - which she couldn’t actually afford, so she payed him in £100 instalments every week - And soon enough she was the middle man of his sale to Gucci, creating his own label there.

Taking inspiration from the exhibition we were asked to create and shoot a three page editorial using clothing which is currently available on the high street for a style magazine of our choice. The final editorial had to represent our chosen masthead as much as possible, we had to consider everything from type face to layout and imagery to fashion. I started by taking inspiration from the Fashion Galore exhibition and creating some mood boards based on the work produced by blow that I was most fascinated by. At first I felt slightly daunted by the brief, because Blow is such a fashion legend with a completely unique style, but as i started to combine my initial inspiration with a renowned magazine masthead, ideas started to piece together naturally.

The Collage of images above [from left to right] show photo shoots produced by Blow and editorial photo shoots I found in the magazine Dazed&Confused. The shoot "London Babes" styled and produced by Isabella, with models Honor Fraser, Bella Freud, Plum Sykes, and Stella Tennant evokes a sense of sassiness. The realness and casual nature of the photo shoot make the images personal and easier as an audience to relate to, the images do not just "celebrate" the clothes trying to be promoted but the lifestyle that the clothes live by. I found some images in the magazine Dazed&Confused that also depicted a believable concept, the images seem unedited and genuine which i personally think is more effective than staged imagery.

This set of images show the eccentric side of Blow's exhibition that I wanted to include in my editorial, and the more achievable option to portraying this. I took great interest in all the headwear designed by Phillip Treacy that was exhibited, but not having any skill in making headwear or many interesting materials to work with in under a week, I decided to simplify and merge the designs into a more practical idea - HAIRSTYLES ! 
On the left I have created a concept board which demonstrates how I would like the hair and makeup to look in my editorial shoot… Bold, eccentric hair styles with subtle, understated makeup. The hair will relate strongly to Blows dreamy, unconventional style, whilst the makeup will stay natural and realistic in order to stay relevant to my audience.

In order to remain fashion conscious and be current and up to date I referred bak to the trustworthy fashion forecasting website, WGSN. Here I found next seasons trends: trapeze-shaped coats, sportswear, oversized boxy t-shirts etc… With all this information I felt ready to start collecting clothes and choose my models…