Fashion Galore! A glimpse into the world of Isabella Blow

So when Blow took her own life in 2007, Ms Guinness bought up all her friend’s clothes and hats, so that they could be preserved. They’re now going on show at London’s Somerset House.

It’s a multitude of lobster necklaces and butterfly hats, dresses of feathers and armour, and a pink burka worn later by Lady Gaga, who cites Isabella Blow as a major influence.

Blow famously found and championed the likes of Alexander Macqueen and the milliner Philip Treacy when they were students. The galleon black hat that sat upon her coffin is in the exhibition.

She had previously told Philip Treacy of the short-lived fashion in France for women to wear hats shaped like ships when their navy beat the British.

So what is it for Daphne Guinness that makes people like her and Isabella Blow dress creatively and stand out from the crowd?

“It’s a state of mind,” she told me, sporting high heel shoes without heels (you’ll have to watch the video). “You’re just trying things out, experimenting, and it makes you happy.”