Annabelle Neilson Has Died

Annabelle Neilson, a muse to Alexander McQueen and John Galliano, who starred on the reality TV show Ladies of Londonwas found dead last week. She was 49. The cause of death is unknown.

One of the flamboyant Brits who brought energy, chic and edge to fashion in the 1990s and 2000s, Neilson was one of the elite cadre of muses, including Amanda Harlech, Isabella Blow and Daphne Guinness, who fluttered around Galliano and McQueen.

In 2000 she appeared twice in American Vogue's epic portfolio, "How Many People Does It Take to Make a Dress?" depicting designers and their support groups. "These are my true friends, people I've known since I was 17," Galliano told the magazine. "They represent everything divine: music, fun, parties, dance, decadence." Neilson defined the last, infamously, when she appeared at a party in Monte Carlo in a sheer black cobweb-embroidered dress by McQueen which left nothing to the imagination. Modesty was not something that concerned Neilson, who was known for being the opposite of prim.

"Tinkerbell" is what McQueen called Neilson, who, with her pale skin and dark fringe, could look like a porcelain doll. In real life, she was more of an action hero. An avid equestrian, she was always up for adventure, and could fly a helicopter and ride a motorcycle. In her tamer moments, Neilson wrote children's books. Though born into a world of privilege — her mother was the Marquesa Campus di Santinelli and it's been said that her paternal grandmother was second cousin to the late Queen Mother — Neilson’s life story did not read like a fairy tale. She was stymied by dyslexia in school, and at 16 she suffered a horrible, disfiguring attack from which she sought solace in heroin, a habit she was able to kick.

She went on to enjoy a second fame as a reality TV star on Ladies of London, a short-lived British take off on the Real Housewives series on which she bravely displayed the proverbial stiff upper lip during her recovery from a horse racing accident, blithely name-checked one-name friends like Kate and Naomi, and remained above the fray of reality-show antics, showing herself to be a bona fide lady. A woman of many talents who was seemingly unstoppable, Neilson’s unexpected death is a shock.