Cool fashion meets hip art in Cranbrook Art Museum's summer exhibit
When Philip Met Isabella: Philip Treacy’s Hats for Isabella Blow, opening June 3. Organized by London's Design Museum,
When Philip Met Isabella draws on work from the private collections of both Treacy and Blow, one of the world's most influential fashion directors, and reveals why Treacy is known as the master of modern hat making.
To celebrate the opening of the new exhibition, Treacy will present a public lecture on his works on Saturday, June 3 at 4 p.m. in deSalle Auditorium.
Designer Treacy met Blow on a fashion shoot in 1989 while he was still a student at the Royal College of Art. After leaving the RCA, Treacy lived and worked from the basement of Blow’s London house for three years. Many of his most surreal and sculptural hats have been made for her.
The exhibit features Blow’s personal collection of 30 Treacy hats including “Ship” – a replica of an 18th-century French ship with full rigging made from miniature buttons – and “Gilbert and George,” a fantastical concoction of pink and green lacquered ostrich feathers named after two of Britain’s most influential contemporary photographers.
Also featured will be “Castle,” inspired by Ludwig of Bavaria’s palace and Blow’s ancestral home in Cheshire, England; and “Horns,” a black satin replica of the horns of Blow’s flock of ancient Soays sheep. In addition, the exhibit includes photographs by Steven Meisel, David LaChapelle, Juergen Teller and Mario Testino of Isabella Blow wearing Treacy’s hats.
Born in County Galway, Ireland, Philip Treacy studied fashion design in Dublin before winning a place at the Royal College of Art. In addition to founding his own successful hat business, he has made
haute couture hats for such fashion houses as Chanel, Valentino, Gianni Versace and Alexander McQueen.
Isabella Blow has worked for many of the world’s top fashion magazines including
American Vogue, Visionaire, The Face and
Vogue Italia. She has played an important part in nurturing the careers of many designers, including Treacy and Alexander McQueen.
When Philip Met Isabella: Philip Treacy’s Hats for Isabella Blow is free with museum admission and closes August 27. The Philip Treacy lecture is also free with museum admission. For more information, call 877.GO.CRANBrook or visit
www.cranbrookart.edu/museum.
The exhibition When Philip Met Treacy: Philip Treacy's Hats for Isabella Blow,
was organized by the Design Museum, London, and curated by Donna Loveday. The exhibition tour has been organized by the Design Museum, London. The presentation of the exhibition at Cranbrook is generously sponsored by Julia Reyes Taubman.
