A jaw-dropping dress made for fashion editor Isabella Blow by Alexander McQueen is set to attract strong attention when it sells at Kerry Taylor Auctions in London on June 25.
 Following Blow's death, rumours emerged of an argument between her and McQueen, which he strongly refuted |
The horsehair and green beaded dress is valued at £25,000-35,000 ($39,278-54,989), as one of the few dresses that McQueen made for Blow that are still available to private collectors.
The majority are owned by heiress Daphne Guinness, who bought Blow's entire collection at an auction following her suicide in 2007.
Guinness sold a portion of her fashion collection at Christie's in June 2012, with the world record for one of Alexander McQueen's dresses set at £85,250 ($133,075), the item bought by the designer's friend and pop star Lady Gaga.
McQueen and Blow became great friends after she bought his entire graduate collection for £5,000, helping to boost his career to the very top of the market.
As fashion editor at Vogue and Tatler magazines, she was an incredibly powerful ally in the fashion world.
The pair then lived together, enjoying a period when both were at the zenith of their careers. Yet, despite their success, both were plagued by depression, which led to McQueen's own suicide in 2010.
The dress stands as testament to both McQueen's great skill and Blow's impeccable tastes. Fringed with horsehair, it is a variation of his 2000/2001 Eshu collection, which is inspired by Nigeria's Yoruba people.
The combination of beads and horsehair makes the piece incredibly heavy, yet Blow insisted that it would not have straps, making it very impractical to actually wear.
A Kansai Yamamoto denim jacket owned and worn by musician David Bowie is also featuring in the sale. Valued at £800-1,200 ($1,256-1,885), it is signed "Bowie, 85" and is being sold to benefit the Open Nest Charity.
The collection of the late Diana Vreeland, editor of American Harper's Bazaar and US Vogue, has also been consigned to the sale by a close family friend.
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