Creative Ménage à trois – milliner, designer, ISABELLA BLOW

Blow me down if it’s not an Isabella Blow exhibition set to hit London later this year!

Announced yesterday was the upcoming exhibition ‘Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore!’ organized by the Isabella Blow Foundation and Central St Martins, London.

For those not familiar with the legend of Isabella Blow, she was a highly influential VOGUE and TATLER stylist, cheeky celebrity bon vivant, style queen and daring wearer of hats, most famous during the 1980s.   During her time at Vogue, she single-handedly launched the career of then Royal College of Arts student Phillip Treacy when she commissioned him to make a headdress for her medieval-inspired wedding to Detmar Blow.  She quickly moved him into a studio basement below her house where they spent months together dreaming up more and more outrageous headwear creations for her to wear.

Whilst Philip Treacy’s career was propelled by his relationship and collaboration with Blow, the indomitable talent of Alexander McQueen completed it.    Blow was also renowned for launching McQueen’s career around the same time, when she purchased his entire graduate collection whilst a Master’s student at Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design.      Blow encouraged collaboration between McQueen and Treacy, and together with her contacts and role within the media, helped shoot all three talents to fame, and they remained an formidable hyper-creative ménage à trois until the suicidal deaths of both Blow (2007) and McQueen (2010) respectively.   (yes like many a creative genius, she was a depressive)

Anyhoo, the exhibition is curated by Alistair O’Neill with Shonagh Marshall, designed by architectural firm Carmody Croarke, with installations by set designer Shona Heath, and will show 100 pieces from her epic collection of shoes and HATS, now owned by Daphne Guiness.  Among the labels featured in the show, in addition to McQueen and Treacy, are Jeremy Scott, Julien Macdonald, Viktor & Rolf, Fendi, Escada, Prada and Marni.

Sigh.

Sometimes it’s a bitch living in Australia.

Exhibition details:  2 November – 30 March Somerset House, London.

Photographer Donald McPherson 'Isabella and Philip', portrait at Claridges, 2002.  

Blow wears Haute Couture Mother of Pearl top and trousers by Alexander McQueen and Treacy ‘Tiffany pink DuPont Lycra stretch disc with feather arrows’ (online) 

http://www.abc.net.au/arts/artists/philip-treacy-hats-for-isabella-blow-grace-jones-lady-gaga/default.htm 

The first hat Isabella commissioned Phillip Treacy to make, for her wedding to Detmar Blow, 19

More Phillip Treacy/Blow collaborations:

"I wear hats to keep everyone away from me.  They say, 'Oh, can I kiss you?  I say, no, thank you very much.  That's why I've worn the hat.  Goodbye.' I don't want to be kissed by all and sundry.  I want to be kissed by the people I love".  

(from an interview with Tamsin Blanchard 2002)

"The Spirit in which she wore hats was like visual entertainment for everybody else and a tonic for her."

(Phillip Treacy)

Isabella Blow, portrait at Claridges, 6 May 2002. Styling by Amber Desborough, Phillip Treacy disc hat, orange acrylic, 2001.

                   Silk Victorian jacket by Alexander McQueen.  Vanity Fair, July 2002.  Photographer Donald McPherson.

Some other highly recommended links to all things ISABELLA BLOW:

Style Icons

Decadentoldbitches

Phillip Treacy Hats for Isabella Blow

Books:

Isabella Blow - A Life in Fashion

Isabella Blow

Blow by Blow - The Story of Isabella Blow

Hats on the Catwalk of London Fashion Week AW13

*Said with no scent of bias at all, none whatsoever....*

I love London Fashion Week more than any of the other Fashion Weeks in the World, because it is just so damn British, the other side of British. Not the pompous, bumbling, aristocratic, empire-building side of British, that is somewhat ironically idolised by Americans in Hugh Grant and the like (sorry, a somewhat hypocritical generalisation there). But the witty, quirky, innovative and totally mad side, well known by anyone who actually lives there, as a bi-product of too much time under grey skys in confined spaces. Jarvis Cocker is the poster boy for this. It is madness that can be best observed unleashed at 6am at the Stone Circle at Glastonbury. The side that is probably Britain's greatest export in this Modern era.

Anyway, I digress in my Britishness. I went through all the pictures from all the big fashion weeks, and I may post the hats from the others in due course, but the hats from London were just more fun. Mad fun. That is the key trend here!

Ashley Isham and Haizhen Wang had Winter visors (I love a good visor, thank goodness I can now officially wear them in the cold), Louise Gray and Fam Irvoll with colour and pop-art sensibilities,  Belle Sauvage with THOSE fringes, Pam Hogg pushing the gift wrapping theme, Yeashin and her Wintery woodland pixie look, and Ziad Ghanem who I have really included for the fabulous make-up.

Take a look and pick your favourite...

Belle Sauvage A/W 13

Ashley Isham A/W 13

Ashley Isham A/W 13

Haizhen Wang A/W 13

Haizhen Wang A/W 13

Louise Gray

Louise Gray A/W 13

Louise Gray A/W 13

Pam Hogg A/W13

Pam Hogg A/W 13

Yeashin A/W13

Yeashin A/W 13

Yeashin A/W13

Yeashin A/W 13

Fam Irvoll A/W 13

Fam Irvoll A/W 13

Fam Irvoll A/W 13

Ziad Ghanam A/W 13 

Ziad Ghanem A/W 13

Ziad Ghanem A/W 13

All pictures from www.vogue.co.uk

Stephen Jones as 'Too Much Fun'

Emerging Milliners at London Fashion Week AW13 - "Headonism"

London Fashion Week is set to kick of this Friday (15th Feb) and for the 4th year will showcase the mad talent of 5 of Britain's greatest emerging milliners in an exhibition presented under a British Fashion Council initiative... and they have a few rising stars to pick from so choices would have been tough!

Stephen Jones is curating the exhibition (it's in good hands folks!), and it will feature the work of Piers Atkinson *swoon*, William Chambers *gasp*, Emma Yeo *faint*, Aurora Ozma *whimper*, and Moody & Farrell *passes out*... under the guise of "Headonism - AW 13"and will show from 15th - 19th February at Somerset House.

Aurora Ozma, Emma Yeo, and Moody & Farrell are new to the collective this year, and I have to say really worthy additions. I have been particularly blown away by the work of Emma Yeo and Moody & Farrell, as they have produced some stunning and wearable creations that I would really like to get my hands (head?) upon (under?)! I'm not quite as familiar with the work of Aurora, but I'm sure it's equally fabulous. Piers Atkinson is of course a previous ISAH favourite, so needs no introduction around these parts!

I really feel that millinery is somewhat under-represented in the various fashion weeks in Australia, which is a shame given it's heritage through the Melbourne cup. Wouldn't it be amazing to see a similar initiative here, which Australian rising stars do you think should be put in the spotlight?

See below for some of my favourite examples of the works of the 5 milliners featured, no idea if these will be in the exhibition or not, but they are ones that caught a bit of my fancy:

What a wonderful video from Piers Atkinson, brings out dreams of a bygone era

William Chambers  Photo from here 

Emma Yeo 

Emma Yeo LOVE this!

Aurora Ozma 

Moody & Farrell - Straw Bear

Moody & Farrell - Cecil Bee 

Moody & Farrell - The Horn Dance

PHILLIP TREACY by Kevin Davies

***PRESS ALERT***

Phaidon release a new retrospective book on Phillip Treacy today 'Phillip Treacy by Kevin Davies'....want please, birthday coming soon, thankyou:
http://es.phaidon.com/store/fashion-culture/philip-treacy-9780714865270/

VOGUE UK will give you a preview of the inside here:  http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2013/02/05/philip-treacy-book---head-wear-and-work-retrospective/gallery/1#./11

Headwear doesn't come more breath-taking than Phillip Treacy's, a man that made it his life's purpose to transform hats from prim to punk back in the 80s fashion heydays and still pretty much reigns supreme.

I may have actually cried when I first clapped eyes on this footage:

http://heady-stuff.tumblr.com/post/7299347339/nowmillinery-philip-treacys-first-haute  his first couture show in Paris (2000) for which he was the first EVER milliner to be asked to do so by the Syndical Chamber of Haute Couture (Paris Fashion Lords).

 

Sigh.

- michelle

Head On into it

Okay, hello!

My first post on I Smell a Hat, and I am going to use it to direct you head on to a current exhibition at The Fashion Space Gallery in London called, um, ‘Head On’.  

The Fashion Space Gallery is housed within the renowned London College of Fashion, which I discovered at a research event I attended there back in June 2012.

Its an interesting exhibition!   Besides taking a multi-angled glance at headwear and its relationship to clothes, hair, design and fashion styling, it may introduce you to some contemporary milliners you hadn’t yet heard of.   Check it out in person if you happen to be lucky enough to live close by, otherwise it is well documented online here:

http://www.fashionspacegallery.com/exhibition/current/

    Phillip Meech for Lara Jensen SS13 Lookbook

A little about me….

I’ve just graduated from RMIT with a Bachelor of Design (Fashion), wrote a thesis on hats which I slowly wish to share with anyone willing to listen, have ALWAYS loved a good hat and believed they highlight character and entertain the eye in a way other fashion items can't.   Interactions with the world just seem better in a hat, fact?

I also design and make hats myself (largely under the masterful eye of Richard Nylon) aaandd for the Tumblr fans amongst you, I have a virtual headwear collection amassing here that I keep for inspiration.   Head on over for a geeze:   http://heady-stuff.tumblr.com

More talk soon (on the humble and not so humble Bowler hat) and please feel free to talk back!

Michelle

Kate Moss in Hats

Who doesn't like Mossy in a hat?
Exactly!
Who doesn't want to be Mossy, just a little bit, maybe even for a day (or 3)?
I know!

The girl who makes bad habits desirable, and undesirable men a little bit cooler... (Ok Pete Doherty, those teeth, that skin, maybe stretching even her superpowers a little, but you know what I'm saying)

Her second favourite accessory (next to a half lit cig) is of course a hat, so I thought I'd have a little envious drool on her cool here tonight.

I feel there is more mileage in this subject matter, Kate Moss, hats, effortless cool...

Air hostess - Check

Backpacker - Check. NB Kate - this is uncool!

Snow Queen - Check

Business Casual - Check

Vintage Glamour - Check (Ok, I'm gonna be a little critical here,  I can see a wrinkle, but knowing Mossy this was 6am Sunday morning and who isn't showing some wear n' tear at that hour? 

Parisian Sailor - Check 

Nips out looking cool - Check

Rock n' Roll Girlfriend - Check 

Disney Presenter - Check 

Glowing Bride - Check  

Teen Queen - Check 

What doesn't Mossy have covered?!!