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06/12/2007
Suicide Verdict In Death Of Fashion Icon
A coroner has ruled that style icon Isabella Blow killed herself by drinking weedkiller.
An inquest into Mrs Blow's death by Gloucestershire Coroner Alan Crickmore found that there was clear evidence that the 48-year-old fashion director of Tatler had intended to take her own life. She had swallowed 20 times the fatal dose of Paraquat and had told staff at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital that she wanted to die.
The inquest heard that she had battled depression for around three or four years and had been released after receiving psychiatric treatment, shortly before her death.
Mrs Blow's younger sister Lavinia Verney told the inquest that her sister had made three previous attempts at suicide - jumping from a bridge, ramming her car into a lorry and overdosing on tablets - before her final fatal attempt in May.
Her psychiatrist, Dr Ian Pennel, told the inquest: "There was the perception of her waning celebrity, her paternal grandfather killing himself after being acquitted on a charge of murder, the death of her young brother in a drowning incident and the difficult early relationship with her parents."
Mrs Blow began her career in 1981 as assistant to Anna Wintour, who is now editor-in-chief of American Vogue.
She returned to the UK in 1986, where she worked for British Vogue, The Sunday Times' Style magazine and then as fashion director of Tatler.
Famous for her love of unusual hats, she was credited with helping to launch the careers of British model Sophie Dahl and designers Philip Treacy and Alexander McQueen.
(KMcA)
An inquest into Mrs Blow's death by Gloucestershire Coroner Alan Crickmore found that there was clear evidence that the 48-year-old fashion director of Tatler had intended to take her own life. She had swallowed 20 times the fatal dose of Paraquat and had told staff at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital that she wanted to die.
The inquest heard that she had battled depression for around three or four years and had been released after receiving psychiatric treatment, shortly before her death.
Mrs Blow's younger sister Lavinia Verney told the inquest that her sister had made three previous attempts at suicide - jumping from a bridge, ramming her car into a lorry and overdosing on tablets - before her final fatal attempt in May.
Her psychiatrist, Dr Ian Pennel, told the inquest: "There was the perception of her waning celebrity, her paternal grandfather killing himself after being acquitted on a charge of murder, the death of her young brother in a drowning incident and the difficult early relationship with her parents."
Mrs Blow began her career in 1981 as assistant to Anna Wintour, who is now editor-in-chief of American Vogue.
She returned to the UK in 1986, where she worked for British Vogue, The Sunday Times' Style magazine and then as fashion director of Tatler.
Famous for her love of unusual hats, she was credited with helping to launch the careers of British model Sophie Dahl and designers Philip Treacy and Alexander McQueen.
(KMcA)
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