She was a visionary fashion editor, stylist, and muse. Now, the luminary life of Isabella Blow is being turned into a biopic starring Oscar-nominated actress Andrea Riseborough.
Directed by Alex Marx, The Queen of Fashion will chart the extraordinary trajectory of Blow’s career – including her time as Tatler’s fashion editor and her discovery of industry icons Stella Tennant and Alexander McQueen – as well as the mental health struggles she faced throughout her life.
The cast list is a roll-call of the Cool Britannia scene that Blow helped to cultivate. Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke will play socialite Daphne Guinness, the daughter of Jonathan Guinness, 3rd Baron Moyne. A cover star at Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, Guinness considered Blow a firm friend, and the two worked together on the model’s Tatler covers.
Blow has been described as ‘the fashion world’s ultimate talent scout’. One of her most enduring working relationships was with milliner Phillip Treacy, who designed many of the avant-garde hats that would become emblematic of Blow’s signature style. In The Queen of Fashion, Fionn O’Shea will play Treacy, who called Blow the ‘ringleader’ of London’s fashion scene in the 90s.
Born into the aristocracy, Blow was the eldest daughter of Major Sir Evelyn Delves Broughton, who will be played by Richard E. Grant. Hayley Atwell will portray Vogue editor Alexandra Schulman. Indeed, Blow began her career at the fashion magazine, assisting Anna Winter and André Leon Talley in the New York offices – where she also befriended Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.