The Muses

Isabella Blow

An early supporter of Alexander McQueen, the late fashion muse is profiled in two books which were released on the same day (November 9th), sparking a war of words between the two authors. {Fashionista}

Isabella Blow: A Life in Fashion by Lauren Goldstein Crowe

List price: $27.99, $18.47 at Amazon

The Business of Fashion recently published part of the book’s Afterword in a two-part excerpt.

Publisher’s Summary: In 2007, the news of Isabella Blowâ€s suicide at the age of 48 made headlines around the world—but there is more to the story of Isabella than her tragic end.   The key supporter and muse of milliner Philip Treacy and designer Alexander McQueen, Blow was truly more than a muse or patron.  She was a spark, an electrical impulse that set imaginations racing, an individual who pushed others to create their best work.

Her fascination with clothing began early, as did a willingness to wear things—and say things—that would amuse and shock. She began her fashion career in New York City as assistant to Anna Wintour at Vogue.  Over time she became famous for her work, yet it wasnâ€t enough to assuage her devastating feelings of inadequacy. Still, in her darkest moments, even as she began a series of suicide attempts and prolonged hospital stays, Blow retained her wicked sense of humor, making her friends laugh even as they struggled to help.

Blow by Blow: The Story of Isabella Blow by Detmar Blow and Tom Sykes

List price: $30, $19.80 at Amazon

Publisher’s Summary: The pages of this book prove Isabella’s aristocratic ancestry to be as colorful as her manner of dress, her childhood as adventurous as it was at times tragic, and her thirty-year career, which began as Anna Wintour’s assistant at Vogue and took in stints as fashion director of Tatler and fashion editor of the Sunday Times Magazine in London, as truly remarkable. But the real power of Blow by Blow lies in its portrayal of a courageous woman who tried passionately and often to escape a legacy of depression that ultimately proved insurmountable. Despite having been subjected to great disappointment and loss throughout her life, Isabella Blow was a consummate nurturer, determined to cultivate creativity wherever she found it.

Keith Richards

The long time rocker, and recent star of Louis Vuitton’s Core Values ad campaign, Richards’ bio will be available online at the Louis Vuitton website, and in Louis Vuitton stores in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Miami. Music and fashion have a long love affair, and though Richards is an unlikely muse, the hard living star’s book is full of stories including the sex, drugs and rock and roll that inspire designers.

Life by Keith Richards and James Fox

Available for $29.99 (list price) at LouisVuitton.com and $16.18 at Amazon.

New York Times Review: “By turns earnest and wicked, sweet and sarcastic and unsparing, Mr. Richards, now 66, writes with uncommon candor and immediacy. Heâ€s decided that heâ€s going to tell it as he remembers it, and helped along with notebooks, letters and a diary he once kept, he remembers almost everything. He gives us an indelible, time-capsule feel for the madness that was life on the road with the Stones in the years before and after Altamont; harrowing accounts of his many close shaves and narrow escapes (from the police, prison time, drug hell); and a heap of sharp-edged snapshots of friends and colleagues — most notably, his longtime musical partner and sometime bête noire, Mick Jagger.

The Designers

Anna Sui

Anna Sui by Andrew Bolton with a foreword by Anna Sui, preface by Jack White and introduction by Steven Meisel

List price: $60, $37.80 at Amazon

Publisher’s Summary: Anna Sui’s trendsetting rock-and-roll looks have made her one of this decade’s top five fashion icons (Time). Here, in the first book to cover the entire scope of Sui’s twenty-year career, fans get rare access to the designer’s creative process. This richly visual retrospective celebrates her influence, from her first show that snared the support of supermodels Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, and Kate Moss to the role she’s played in making the babydoll dress one of fashion’s most iconic silhouettes. With more than 400 photographs from legendary photographers, this exquisite tome with a shimmering foil-stamped cover is essential for all fashionistas.

Kenzo Takada

Kenzo by Antonio Marras and Olivier Saillard with a foreword by Franceso Bonami and contributions from Bradley Quinn and Catherine Orman

List price: $75, $47.25 at Amazon

Publisher’s Summary: An extraordinary collectible, Kenzo creatively presents forty years of the Paris-based fashion house, founded by Japanese designer Kenzo Takada and now in a resurgence under artistic director Antonio Marras. Established in 1970 by Kenzo Takada, who had arrived in Paris from Japan in 1965, Kenzo is one of the great French houses that transformed global fashion in the latter half of the twentieth century. Now under the artistic directorship of Antonio Marras, KENZO has again achieved critical and popular acclaim. Marras draws from the rich vein of Kenzo tradition as it engages the spirit of the new century. Armed with an unmatched vocabulary in prints and textiles, Marras mines both East and West, the present and the past, to create a collection that evokes, reveres, and reinvents the intentions of its founder. The highlights of Takadaâ€s tenure until his retirement in 1999 are also documented here. The first monograph on KENZO, this lavish volume comes in a real fabric cover, available in three different patterns, and with a pop-up that evokes the romantic textiles, envelopes, and paper craft for which the houseâ€s fashion collection invitations are known.  Additional special features include three double-sided double gatefolds, folding out to the equivalent of eight pages, and three accordian gatefolds, folding out to five pages.  This book is truly an art object in and of itself.

Matthew Williamson

Matthew Williamson by Colin McDowell with a foreword by Sienna Miller

List price: $65, $40.95 at Amazon

Publisher’s Summary: A unique insight into one of the most exciting fashion designers working today, revealing the imagination fueling his exuberant creations. Celebrated for his deluxe bohemian chic, Matthew Williamsonâ€s vivacious, color-drenched creations bedecked with exquisite embroidery and beading have made him a favorite with the fashion pack. This stunning volume explores Williamsonâ€s career, from his acclaimed first collection in 1997 to his current status as a multimillion-dollar brand with stores in London and New York and an international celebrity clientele. Lavishly illustrated, this monograph celebrates Williamsonâ€s trademark use of vibrant color and pattern. Editorial images highlighting his collections and iconic pieces, sumptuous photography of his textile designs, and celebrity fashion shoots are shown alongside mood boards, sketches, and scrapbooks revealing his influences and inspirations.

the face of Nars Cosmetics†fall campaign

savior to Isabella Blowâ€s prized wardrobe collection

Guiness is not a fan of the tracksuit look...

“You can tell the state of ­civilization by the way people dress,” she said. “If the people who fought two World Wars came back to 2010 and saw all of us running around in tracksuits, what would they think? It is just being sloppy. And it is not about the money, it is a mindset.”

We think Guinness has a point. Walk down any New York City street on any given day and you are bound to see tons of sloppy-looking pedestrians. We all have days where comfort clothes are more appealing than structured clothing, but there are limits. Particularly when it comes to what you wear to work, how you present yourself is a big part of how you are perceived. In this economy, every little bit of self-marketing may help you to keep your job – unless you work at Citibank, but that’s another story.

Guinness also said sheâ€s not a fan of unhealthy round bodies.

“I have nothing against people who are round,” she said. “I am far too thin, for ­example. Iâ€d really love to put on a few pounds. But I certainly think some ­people look tremendously unhealthy — and quite unhappy actually.”

Amen. We know a lot is made of the too-thin images of women we see in the media, and all of that is warranted given that being seriously underweight can be as unhealthy as being seriously overweight.  But Guinness may be on the mark about heavier people being unhappy. A recent Dutch study found that obesity increases the risk of depression by 55 percent. {Reuters}

One of the doctors involved noted “[being] overweight and obesity, can induce low self-esteem and body dissatisfaction, especially in Western countries where thinness is often considered a beauty ideal. Both low self-esteem and body dissatisfaction are known to increase the risk of depression.”

While fashion only goes so far, perhaps more stylish options for larger sizes would help with both problems. We’ve said before and we’ll continue to say, not everyone is meant to have the same shape. Some people are naturally thin and perfectly healthy, some people are naturally fat and perfectly healthy, and there are plenty of healthy and unhealthy shapes in between the two ends. And at all ranges of the size spectrum, there are people who are never satisfied with their bodies. Celebrating different body types as beautiful through flattering clothing may seem superficial, but it would be a start.

FYI, Daphne, youâ€re beautiful, and if you’re just not meant to pick up any more pounds we like you as you are.

was to be sold by the auction house Christieâ€s

newly announced muse for and face of Nars Cosmetics†fall campaign

The late Alexander McQueen and Isabella Blow in a photo by David LaChapelle

“The planned sale at Christie’s could only result in carnage, as souvenir seekers plundered the incredible body of work Issie had created over her life,” the statement said. “Indeed, in many ways, the auction would not be merely a sale of clothes; it would be a sale of what was left of Issie, and the carrion crows would gather and take away her essence forever.”

Guinness†interpretation of Blowâ€s wardrobe as a symbol of the life of the woman she affectionately called “Issie” seems fair given the famous editorâ€s devotion to fashion and impressive collection. Guinness said she consulted Blow’s family, including hat designer Philip Treacy – for whom Blow served as a muse, Lady Amanda Harlech and David LaChapelle before committing to purchase the entire collection, and she said they supported her decision. She also said she plans to preserve the collection the way she believes Blow would have wanted it to be kept. {LookBooks}

“I would like this unique collection, marked by her grace and the fact it was so intimately hers, to allow people (whether students, lovers of fashion, historians) to remember her and benefit from her legacy, when we who knew and loved Issie are no longer here,” Guinness said. “In this way all of Issie’s friends, known or unknown, near or far, both those she chose and those who identify with her, will have access to something that no one should be afraid to call by its proper name: Isabella Blow’s Work of Art.”

Based on this statement, we hope to eventually see Blowâ€s collection displayed for the public in a museum – perhaps at the V&A Museum in London where Grace Kellyâ€s wardrobe was recently shown. Christieâ€s did not do anything wrong by intending to auction Blowâ€s clothing, but we are pleased to know there may be the opportunity to view the collection in its entirety at some point, thus offering a glimpse into Blowâ€s life as well as the beauty of the pieces she accumulated.

The many hats of Isabella Blow

It was announced last week that nearly 100 McQueen outfits and 50 Treacy hats along with Manolo Blahnik shoes from Blowâ€s impressive wardrobe will be sold by the auction house Christieâ€s on behalf of Blowâ€s family Sept. 15 in London, South Kensington. {NYTimes}

“What we have is unique — it shows that McQueen really deserves his place in fashion history and that Isabella was there before anyone else. She saw what was good so far ahead of the game,” said Patricia Frost, director of fashion and textiles for Christieâ€s.

Even more noteworthy is fashion editor Andre Leon Talleyâ€s report that Treacy confirmed at Naomi Campbellâ€s 40^th birthday party that he has a producer committed to creating a film on the life of Blow, with John Galliano on board to play the part of … John Galliano. {Fashionologie}

ALT wrote a great deal on Vogue.com about Campbellâ€s celebration this past weekend in Cannes, including this tidbit: “I caught Treacy, in an Alexander McQueen smoking with a black shawl collar spliced with gold lamé, to thank him for all those gorgeous Grace Jones hats. We had not hugged since Isabella Blowâ€s funeral three years ago, and he shared fabulous news: He has a producer to do a film on Isabella, and Galliano has already confirmed to play himself. Who will play Isabella? Treacy has a great trick up his hat, and itâ€s going to rock the world, but he cannot reveal it until this major new talent confirms.” {The Cut}

If Galliano backs out for some reason, we think Johnny Depp would be a perfect fit for the part, especially after hearing about the “huge Mad Hatter top hat” ALT said Galliano sported at Campbellâ€s party, and we hope you are as excited as we are to hear who Treacy will pull out of his hat for the starring role.