Isabella Blow’s wardrobe to go on display

This autumn, Somerset House in London will host the ‘Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore!’ exhibition, displaying more than 100 pieces owned by the late fashion editor. In partnership with the Isabella Blow Foundation and Central Saint Martins

College of Art and Design, the exhibition due to take place from November will celebrate her extensive personal wardrobe and will include pieces by Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan, Julien Macdonald, and Philip Treacy, including her wedding headdress that the milliner designed.

Somerset House to celebrate Isabella Blow

The exhibition will chronicle Blow's British aristocratic ancestral roots, growing up at Doddington Hall in Cheshire, her discovery of fashion talents, in particularly her championing of Treacy and the last McQueen, and there will also be a whole section inspired by Blow’s love of the English countryside, which will include a huge installation of a hedge.

Known for her eclectic style, there will also be a dedicated area to her outfits and style, with bespoke Isabella Blow mannequins wearing full outfits worn by her to demonstrate her unique, distinctive style.

The final section of the exhibition, the ‘Legacy’ will display ‘La Dame Bleue’, the Spring/Summer 2008 Alexander McQueen collection that McQueen and Treacy collaborated on and dedicated to Blow after her death.

Daphne Guinness, who purchased Blow’s entire wardrobe in 2010, said: "The exhibition is, to me, a bittersweet event. Isabella Blow made our world more vivid, trailing colour with every pace she took.

“I do believe that in choosing to exhibit them we’ve done the right thing – and that is what she would have wanted.”

Blow committing suicide in 2007 after battling with depression, she started her career in fashion as Anna Wintour’s assistant at US Vogue and went on to be fashion director at Tatler. The foundation set up in her memory aims to promote British fashion as well as support aspiring art and fashion students and it also funds selected charities that promote mental well-being.

The 'Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore!' exhibition is scheduled to run from November 20 to March 2, 2014.

Image: Isabella Blow, 2002 © Diego Uchitel