Suicide is becoming endemic in the world of fashion. MC spoke to fashion designer Roberto de Villacis about how his beloved industry is affected and why he’s joining forces with Zero Suicide Alliance to raise awareness of the issue. Roberto de Villacis
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oberto de Villacis is couturier to the stars. He counts Carrie Underwood, Johnny Depp, Katy Perry and Britney Spears among his A-List clientele. He can sadly also count too many people within the industry who have taken their own lives. Designers Alexander McQueen and Kate Spade, model and former wife of Roxy Music’s Bryan Ferry, Lucy Ferry, and Roberto’s close friend and inspiration, Isabella Blow, all died by suicide. But for the love and support from his family, Roberto could have become another statistic during a 10-year-long fight with depression brought on by the “pressures of the business.” “I thought if I killed myself how would it affect my family – one suicide affects up to 60 people – and what would happen to all the charities I support. I couldn’t do it.”
If you want to help save a life you have to talk and reach out, it’s not normal to ignore it. Instead he’s doing something about it by working with Mersey Care and the Zero Suicide Alliance to raise awareness and funds through his “romantic crusade”, Glamour Saves The World (well almost).
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Roberto is clear – the fashion industry doesn’t want to talk about suicide. Kate Spade, who built a fashion empire on her signature handbags, suffered with manic depression, but is reported to have refused to get help, in case it damaged her brand.
“If you want to help save a life you have to talk and reach out, it’s not normal to ignore it.” says Roberto. Alexander McQueen, he says, became a victim of his own success. “He was an artist who got crushed by the system. I think the pressures of his situation, his sexuality, his business and the pressures people put on you got to him. They want your craziness and avant-garde qualities, but then they want to filter your concept into a single handbag - if you can’t do that they throw you out.” Isabella “Issie” Blow was a Tatler magazine editor. The muse of hat designer Philip Treacy, she is credited with discovering the models Stella Tennant and Sophie Dahl as well as designer McQueen. Roberto says Isabella suffered from a “Cinderella complex” and felt the fashion world had treated her very badly. She attempted suicide more than once before her death in 2007.
