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7:00 A.M. I tend to wake up naturally if I've had a reasonable night's sleep, but I'm quite nocturnal when I work. If I've been working very late and have not stirred by 10, my housekeeper will knock on the bedroom door. I don't go for alarms.
7:30 A.M. I have a cup of English tea with milk and two sugars, which brings me back to life. I sometimes forget to have breakfast, but if I'm hungry I'll have crumpets or toast with Marmite. No two days are the same, but generally I go through the papers while I eat breakfast or in the car or on a flight if I'm going to a meeting. I like to read the International Herald Tribune and the Financial Times. In London, the Sunday papers with all their supplements are great. I also read The Huffington Post.
8:00 A.M. I try to spend some time on a cross-trainer, but I also love swimming.
8:30 A.M. I'll have a hot bath, never showers. Nothing restores your skin like a bit of olive oil added to the water. I sing or listen to music while I'm in the bath. My favorite musicians are Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, and David Bowie. I like makeup—my favorites are Charlotte Tilbury, Tom Ford, M.A.C., and NARS. I layer my scents, and I mix a variation of one combination I particularly like; the perfume I released a few years ago with Comme des Garçon was based on it. Two of my favorite notes are patchouli and tuberose. I love incense too. I don't always smell the same, as each day I make the balance of one note differ from the next. The story of my hair is actually quite boring. The white streak happened by accident with a hairdresser friend, and it just stuck. It's rather become me. I often do it myself, and I keep an emergency stash of peroxide with me when I travel. If I style it myself, it takes five minutes—I couldn't live without Elnett hair spray by L'Oréal. If I'm having it done for a special event, it's rather longer. I use Kérastase shampoo and conditioner.
9:00 A.M. I step out of the bath and decide what to wear while listening to music blaring. It takes much less time than people assume. I dress intuitively, depending on my mood. I think it's important to not take one's self too seriously. I can be quite experimental with my clothes. If in doubt, though, I'll wear a Chanel suit or a gray knee-length McQueen dress; Alexander made me one, and I liked it so much I ordered a few of them. The fit is so beautiful—a celebration of the silhouette. My shoes are mostly by Natacha Marro or Noritaka Tatehana. I might throw on a turban or a veil, and I love jewelry, brooches especially. I scold myself for breaking something, be it a glass or a nail. This happens almost daily.
9:30 A.M. When I leave the house I always carry a handbag, and in it an iPod and headphones. I've yet to wean myself off Nicorette gum, so I have a hefty supply in there too—God knows how much I chew, perhaps 10 pieces a day. I also bring a notepad and a fountain pen. My favorite mode of transportation is the train; you can't beat it. Funnily enough, I own only one car—an old army jeep, which is out of service. I tend to take cabs, and I only really drive in L.A., where I'll hire a Porsche. There's nothing like having the wind in your hair and the California sun on you skin.
10:00 A.M. Most days I check in with my team in London for an update on whatever project we're juggling. The Isabella Blow Foundation, which I founded in her honor, has been up and running for two years now, and is responsible for granting scholarships to students in fashion. The exhibition "Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore!" just opened in London. I've also been recording music, which has become something of an obsession, and is where the nocturnal behavior kicks in.
10:30 A.M. I read my first e-mail of the day whenever I remember. I'm not terribly good at checking my e-mails, though I seem to receive an awful lot of them. I wish we could all go back to faxes; I like to have something tangible in front of me. I'm slightly better with phone calls. I have three cell phones—two Blackberries (one U.S. and one U.K.) and an iPhone. Rare is the day that I don't misplace at least two of them. But I try to write to friends by hand as much as possible, and I correspond with my Twitter friends almost daily.
12:00 P.M. My wardrobe assistant, Teresa, is with me a lot when I travel. If I'm doing a shoot, I tend to drink one or two Red Bulls. I prefer the sugar-free one. No day is the same as its predecessor. I might have four or five meetings on one day but none on another. If I feel like procrastinating, I listen to music and draw elaborate doodles.
6:00 P.M. I don't really like the word "eccentricity," but my assistant finds it amusing when I put my credit card in a bowl of water inside the freezer. I do it when I've been overspending. In New York I like to shop at Barneys. I wear a lot of Rick Owens—his leather coats and jackets are the best. In London I wander around Selfridges, and I try to get over as much as I can to Gareth Pugh's studio and to Virginia Bates for vintage. My favorite bookstore is Heywood Hill in Mayfair. My great-aunt, Nancy Mitford, worked there during the war, and it's thought that many of her books were influenced by that time.
7:00 P.M. I don't do schedules, particularly when it comes to food. I eat a lot of sushi. Ikeda is my go-to place in London, but I generally eat at home. I also like comforting British food: roast chicken and soups, and rice pudding for dessert. My indulgences are popcorn and Popsicles. And I drink Patrón tequila—neat.
8:00 P.M. I don't go out that often, but going out with my children is always enlightening.
11:30 P.M. When I get home I try to figure out Pro Tools on my computer, or I order something off Amazon. I have a bit of an Amazon problem. And Net-a-Porter is a killer; I go on there late at night when I'm left to my own devices. To relax, I listen to music, meditate, and have the occasional massage. I couldn't live without music, perfume, and books. I read whenever I have the opportunity. Anna Karenina is my favorite, and I never tire of Nabokov. I also like to read magazines like The New Yorker, Foreign Affairs, AnOther Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, and Vogue. My favorite movie is 2001: A Space Odyssey, and I love to watch Game of Thrones on HBO. I collect books, art, jewelry, vintage music equipment (Telefunken microphones are a weakness), and taxidermied butterflies—I have a wall filled with them. I don't have any pets. I kept a baby snake in Mexico when I was there for a month some years ago, but nothing since.
12:00 A.M. My bedtime depends on the day. If I'm working I'll often stay up until the early hours and hit my bed around 5 a.m., or it could be as early as midnight if I'm not. There are no huge surprises in my bedroom—pictures on the wall, pillows on the bed. I like white bed linens, no patterns. My sheets are from Porthault. I go to sleep the old-fashioned way: lie down and shut my eyes.
