Who

Isabell was one of the city's most popular florists and party planners before his death in July 2009.

Backstory

A Duluth, Minn. native, Isabell started working part-time for a florist as a wee elementary schooler. In 1978, he arrived in New York on the night before Halloween; while wandering the streets, he walked by Studio 54 when all of a sudden the club's legendary co-owner, Steve Rubell, grabbed him and pulled him inside. (At least, that's the dramatic—and unlikely—story he tells.) Isabell eventually became Studio 54's floral designer and later handled arrangements for Rubell and partner Ian Schrager's club Palladium. He opened his own floral design business, Robert Isabell, Inc., in 1980.

Of note

The self-described "Flower King" designed arrangements for Marie Chantal-Miller's wedding to Prince Pavlos, Samantha Boardman's wedding to real estate tycoon Aby Rosen, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, and the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute gala. Long the favored florist of the Kennedy family, Isabell designed the flower displays at Caroline Kennedy's wedding to Ed Schlossberg, Maria Shriver's 1986 wedding to Arnold Schwarzenegger, JFK Jr.'s 1996 wedding to Carolyn Bessette, and Jackie O.'s funeral in 1994. But he was also one of the city's most prominent party planners too, and coordinated lavish events for the likes of Annette de la Renta and Pat Buckley. Isabell passed away from a heart attack in July 2009. 

Habitat

Until his death, Isabell lived in a Greenwich Village home that was actually two adjacent townhouses joined together by a 65-foot-high glass-ceilinged atrium.