Looking through our past coverage of Robert Isabell after his death last week, we came across something that feels especially relevant now, because of Isabell's passing and because of the state of the industry today. Back in 2001, BizBash editor in chief Chad Kaydo sat down with Isabell for an interview about his long career as his staff was building furniture for a Marc Jacobs party scheduled for a few days later, on September 10. After a month of reporting on the effects of September 11 on the event business, we published the Q&A, and Isabell's comments about 20 years of adapting to changes in the industry seemed especially prescient and appropriate—as they do now.
"If people are going to spend money, they want to make sure the job is going to be done right," he said. "They're going to go to somebody more professional. In good economic times, a lot of people go into business. And when the economy slows down, they don't get out of the business, but they probably close their business and go to work for somebody else. The last time there was a recession I actually got busier." The full Q&A is here.
We'd also like to point you to this blurb about Isabell that ran as part of our roundup of New York's top 10 event designers in 2005, and summed up his place in the event business:
"Like no one else on this list, Isabell is a survivor. For more than 20 years, he has been at the top of the industry, from Studio 54 parties to JFK Jr.’s wedding, from the Costume Institute gala to Marc Jacobs’s after-show events.... Overused words like 'beautiful' and 'elegant' don’t mean much anymore, but let’s face it: More than anyone else working today, Isabell defined modern event style, while remembering to incorporate the purpose of each party, and an endless supply of unique, original touches. And even when he makes a grand statement—like a 20-foot-tall lilac arrangement at last year’s Costume Institute gala, for example—it never looks gaudy or kitschy.... In a day when many event designers prefer to brand themselves as lifestyle gurus while smiling and gabbing in TV segments, Isabell quietly keeps designing gorgeous events. And even though his big-time fashion, charity, and social clients flirt with the latest designer-of-the-minute, they keep coming back to the master."
