58 | october 2011

NYO

october 2011 | 59

FASHION

the phrase Contra mundum is Latin for “against the world,” usually attributed

to Athanasius, who was exiled for defending Christian orthodoxy.

But Daphne Guiness used it to name the gold and diamond encrusted arm glove that she designed along with Shaune Leane. Guiness slowly laid down on a stone effigy in a crystal body suit at the White Cube Gallery, remain-ing motionless under a veil. The staged funeral wake was in honor of her beloved and late friend, designer Alexander McQueen. “I always want to be protected against the world,” Ms. Guinness explained over an interview referencing her upcoming show centering on her at the Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.). It seems counterintuitive to associate that concept with a person who seems to have everything: lineage (heiress to the Irish brewing fortune and granddaughter of one of the legendary Mitford sisters), prestige (growing up in stately homes in Ireland, England and Spain), adventures (marrying Greek shipping scion Spyros Niarchos at 19 and living in New York City in the ’80s with her sister, who was in Andy Warhol’s inner circle) thus making her the muse of designers Karl Lagerfeld, Valentino and, of course, Alexander McQueen. She is also the designer of a clothing line with Dover Street Market, creator a fragrance in 2009 with Comme des Garçons and producer or actress in several

guiness gracious films. Although Contra Mundum and the associated performance were merely one of Ms. Guinness’s many art projects, they capture all of the main themes in her life: love of armor and veil; multilayered literary allusions and framing fashion as works of art rather than as simple stylish objects. “[The glove] is more a sculpture than a piece of jewelry. There were so many things involving so many people during the process of creation. And I incorporated a piece of my own jewelry in it. … So it’s really me in that.”

“Mad Genius,” “Style Muse,” “Fashion Icon” and “Lady Gaga Trailblazer” are merely some of the many sobriquets accorded to Ms. Guinness. She was not dressing according to utilitarian consideration for weather (87 degrees) or occasion (a museum director’s office), but taking on fashion as a form of self-fashioning: a piece of lace tied over her hair that was 7/8ths bleached platinum blond and 1/8th pitch black, a fitted black jacket over white lace romperlike garment with a creamy white belt, her barely-there short pants revealing over-the-knee-high black semi-opaque stockings and her signature vertigi-nous shoes without heels. The entire black/white ensemble was very Lagerfeldesque, accentuated by layers of studded punk leather bracelets and oversize punk rings. Her left hand wore a fingerless black satin glove, which was not matched on her right hand, à la Karl Lagerfeld, who would randomly select from his trays of rings to populate his fingers right before he headed out of the door. Her black eyeliners were unevenly applied.

Ms. Guinness admitted that she was a bit apprehensive when she first accepted the

I am very influenced by literature . . .

I love being in that process

of a very thought-out,

elaborate plot

invitation of Valerie Steele, director of the F.I.T. Museum, to do a show based on her style, her fashion collection and her own designs. But she decided to “own the project” because it might be of interest to other people and make [fashion] accessible. “Yes, I am very lucky, but I don’t need to be ashamed of it.” Ms. Steele said that when she first met Ms. Guinness at a Couture Council Annual Luncheon, she immediately decided that she wanted to do a show with her, about her couture collection and her personal style, because of the extraordinary way that she used fashion to turn herself into a work of art. Ms. Steele noted that while there were many shows about designers and collections, there were very few about individual women of style; however, [the latter] is the way fashion comes alive when it is worn by extraordinary persons. To prepare for the show, Ms. Steele had scouted Ms. Guinness’s couture-filled apartment in London and her many closets in New York, as well as going through many rounds of interviews. “She was a true trooper,” Ms. Steele said.

The show will include approximately 100 pieces, organized not by designer, but by style: Dandyism, chic/simple, extravagant, armor, sparkling things and exotic. All in all, the looks are distinctively her own. Ms. Steele believed that Ms. Guinness was not only an inspiration for many designers; at a time of conformity she also held the flag high for individuality and creativity.

Ms. Steele called the show a way to explore the mystery and poetics of fashion. For Ms. Guinness, fashion, photography, drawing, literature and singing all dovetail one

another. Talking about the inspirations for her take on fashion: “I am very influenced by literature . . . . I love being in that process of a very thought-out, elaborate plot.”

Asked how she put together her look on that day, “I just did … It’s been always my look.” But does she dress differently when she is in London versus when she is in New York? “I’ve never changed. … I don’t see the world change . . . . You should dress the way you want. … It seems peculiar that today I seem to stick out more than, say, in the ’80s, when there were many [fashion] movements.”

Ms. Guinness clearly would rather talk about the philosophy of fashion and style than about her “look.” Looking back at her collection, she said that she would have very few regrets. Although she is often perceived as the vanguard of fashion, she said that she hardly looked at fashion magazines, nor would she follow trends. “I don’t really change that much. … I am rather consis-tent. I would carry the same handbag

the shoes

I always want to be protected

against the world

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Black studded boots, black leaf heel and red suede heels all by Daphne Guiness at the Fashion Institute of Technology museum

McQueen muse transforms

fashion into art By Chiu-Ti Jansen

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60 | october 2011

NYO FASHION

until it falls apart.”Ms. Steele described Ms. Guinness’s

collection as methodically organized and documented. Ms. Guinness said that she would wear some pieces she collected, while leaving others for pure aesthetic appreciation for fear of ruining them. Even though she has bought a lot of shoes, she would wear only some of them repeatedly for comfort after she has already broken the in.

“I do like cross-dressing—[dressing] like 19th-century men.” Ms. Guinness used the word “jealous” to describe her envy of the men at that time wearing frock jackets, tails and top hats. We asked her if she liked Oscar Wilde, the quintessential dandy. She gushed, “Oh, I love Oscar Wilde. … He said that nature follows art, which is true . … Unless an artist points out it’s a frock, nobody notices it … ” Ms. Guinness rattled off a long litany of Wilde’s classics: “The Importance of Being Earnest, The Nightingale and the Rose, The Picture of Dorian Gray … he is a cipher of the art. He has fantastic one-liners. And he was Irish. He was so unbelievably clever … ”

At that point Ms. Guinness turned to her obsession with Hamlet, which is the work she would bring with her to a desert island, although she could not explain why. But she thought Hamlet was an extraordinary character and a universal man who was questioning. She said it took many encoun-ters to fully appreciate the depth of the play.

So what are misperceptions about her? She stuttered a bit: “I am a normal person, just like other persons. [I am in] a quest about what it means to be here, what it means to be a human being. . . . Another misconception: I am [actually] not very social.” Earlier in the conversation, Ms. Guinness emphatically said that she was “not very good at parties.”

Ms. Guinness explained that she married young and fashion for her is not a matter of

I don’t really change that

much . . . I am rather consistent.

I would carry the same

handbag until it falls apart

angel of The night: Daphne Guiness takes on a lighter role for a photograph as part of the exhibit at the museum for the Fashion Institute for Technology (FIT)

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JULY 2011 | 61

re-creating oneself—it’s a matter of what one can actually do. Indeed, Ms. Steele believes that Ms. Guinness’s style is an emblem of every person’s desire to dress aspirationally, but she carries it to a higher, more extreme degree—so you can see the magical compo-nent to it.

“There is something extremely magical about armor,” Ms. Guinness had said. Ms. Guinness’s fascination with armor is visible in the fashion she collected and created. After all, armor is not only a garment that strengthens one’s defense, but one that also reveals one’s vulnerability. “Yes,” Ms. Steele said. “It is true, in fact. Armor evokes a metaphor for fashion because fashion is a way to present nobila figura, our best and more beautiful selves. Beneath the ‘mask,’ there is something vulnerable, less perfect.”

McQueen is known for his many armor-inspired creations. Ms. Guinness said that she had been a very close friend of the designer’s since 1999, but did not think of herself as instrumental in nourishing McQueen’s career. She pointed to Isabella Blow, a renowned fashion editor who famously launched McQueen’s career by buying up his entire graduation collection. “We are all cut from the same cloth,” Ms. Guinness would say to describe the spiritual kinship she had felt with McQueen and Blow. Ms. Guinness remembered the days that she would visit McQueen’s studio and work with him, but she believed that McQueen did not need her to be the genius he was. Ms. Guinness learned about McQueen’s suicide when she got a call from Mr. Leane, just as she got a call about Blow’s suicide four years before that. She then explained that she did not want to put herself in the position of a fashion designer who had to produce 14 collections at year. The pressure was unbearable. After Blow’s suicide, Ms. Guinness acquired Blow’s entire fashion collection before it went on auction. She said that she gravitated toward creative people and they gravitated toward her.

Bernard-Henry Levy once said that Guinness was not a person but a concept. But how would she describe herself? Guinness paused, “Oh I don’t know . . . . I am just a human being . . . .” o

CLOCWISE FROM LEFT: alexander mcQueen, black eagle; jacket; Gareth Pugh silver coat; alexander mcQueen kimono; Gareth Pugh, black ruffle dress; Givenchy black fur dress; all on display at the museum of the Fashion Institute for Technology (FIT)

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the clothes