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Daphne Diana Joan Susanna Guinness (born 9 November 1967) is an English fashion designer, socialite, actress, film producer, and musician.
As a child, Guinness grew up moving between the country houses owned by her family in England and Ireland, and a villa in Spain, where Salvador Dalí was a family friend. She later lived in New York with her half-sister, Catherine Guinness, who was working as a Personal Assistant to Andy Warhol.
Guinness has written numerous pieces on the topic of fashion, including columns published in Vogue, the Financial Times, The Times, and Harper's Bazaar. She also wrote the foreword to Alexander McQueen: Fashion Visionary, (2025). 9781847961013, Welbeck Publishing Group. ISBN 9781847961013 contributed to Dressed to Kill: Jazz Age Fashion, (2025). 9780847834136, Rizzoli. ISBN 9780847834136 and co-authored Art/Fashion in the 21st Century. (2025). 9780500239094, Thames and Hudson. ISBN 9780500239094 As a designer, Guinness has designed a collection of shirts with Comme des Garçons for Dover Street Market, and created an estimated 100 pieces for herself in 2010 with no intention of selling them. She designed Contra Mundum, an 18-carat white gold glove encrusted with diamonds, with British jeweler Shaun Leane and Alexander McQueen. The glove was worn in McQueen's shows, and was auctioned at Sotheby's in 2017.
She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1994. Guinness has styled photo shoots for photographers Steven Klein and David LaChappelle.
Following a divorce in 1999, Guinness became more involved in the avant-garde fashion movement, establishing relationships within the fashion industry. Guinness was a close friend of the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen and, according to Vogue, she "nurtured" his career.
In 2004, she was brought on as a fashion consultant for Gucci by François-Henri Pinault.
Following the 2007 death of magazine editor Isabella Blow, Guinness purchased Blow's entire fashion collection, months before it was scheduled to be auctioned by Christie's in 2010. In 2014, Guinness exhibited more than 100 pieces of Blow's collection at Somerset House.
In 2009, she created a scent named Daphne for Comme des Garçons. Guinness collaborated with NARS Cosmetics as the model for the fall 2010 campaign, which included an eyeshadow named after her. In 2011, she released a 21-product makeup line with MAC Cosmetics that included blushes, lipsticks and nail polishes.
She curated an exhibition at the Fashion Institute of Technology in 2011 that featured more than 100 contemporary pieces by various designers, including Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Valentino, and others, all from her personal couture collection. The exhibit also featured The Phenomenology of Body, a short film Guinness directed focused on costumes through the ages.
As a tribute to the deaths of Isabella Blow and Alexander McQueen, in 2011 Guinness dressed in public for the Met Gala in a Barneys window; she wore a feathered McQueen dress and other pieces from Blow's collection.
At the end of 2011, photographers Markus Klinko and Indrani, Guinness, and stylist GK Reid produced The Legend of Lady White Snake, a film based on a Chinese legend, where Guinness played the central role of Lady White Snake.Sparks, Cator. Do It Daphne! Guinness Shines in Short Film Based on Ancient Chinese Legend, Stylelist, 4 March 2012. Accessed 3 May 2012. Bernard-Henri Lévy wrote her dialogue for the film.Feitelberg, Rosemary. Daphne Guinness and 'The Legend of Lady White Snake', Women's Wear Daily, 7 February 2012. Accessed 3 May 2012.
In 2012, Guinness starred in Shakki, a science fiction short film directed by Julien Landais.
The album's singles were also released as remixes, remixed by artists including Hercules & Love Affair and Joe Goddard.
Entertainment website Culture Fix listed Sleep as one of the best albums of 2024, describing it as "a sleek and sophisticated blend of gothic charm, art-pop allure, and esoteric creativity."
Guinness also released music video versions for two songs that were on the 2018 Daphne & the Golden Chord album – "Talking to Yourself" and "Remember to Breathe".
Two music videos directed by LaChapelle were released in 2020 for "Hallucinations" and "Heaven", two of the songs on the Revelations album.
Guinness collaborated with Nick Knight again in 2023 on the video for "Hip Neck Spine", the first single to be taken from her fourth album "Sleep". The video for the follow up single, "Mishima" was directed by Paul Fryer. David LaChappelle directed the videos for two singles from the "Sleep" album - "Volcano"and "Time".
In June 2010, Guinness purchased at auction the entire wardrobe of Isabella Blow, her friend who died by suicide in 2007. The lot was purchased prior to an auction, which was arranged at Christie's. She later announced that she would be displaying the wardrobe at Central Saint Martins and online, as well as starting a foundation to help with mental illness. The official show, entitled " Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore," was displayed in November 2013 at Somerset House in London.
In February 2013, Guinness, along with Baroness Monica von Neumann and Lynn Ban, donated a collection of her shoes to the Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology's Shoe Obsession exhibit.
She lives in London and Manhattan with her three children.
She has been romantically involved with French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy for a number of years. In the February 2011 issue of Harper's Bazaar, Guinness confirmed to journalist Derek Blasberg: "He is obviously the love of my life".
Film
Producer
Guinness has produced and edited three short films:
Acting
In 2011, Guinness starred in Joe Lally's film, The Murder of Jean Seberg.
Music
David Bowie encouraged Guinness to pursue music, introducing her to Tony Visconti, who had produced three of her albums as of August 2020.
Optimist in Black (2016)
After the deaths of her brother Jasper, mentor David Bowie, and friends Isabella Blow and Alexander McQueen, Guinness went to a studio in Ireland, intending to record a cover of the Bob Dylan song "Desolation Row". While there, she wrote and recorded original songs which became the basis for her first album, Optimist in Black. Optimist in Black was released on 27 May 2016, through private label Agent Anonyme/Absolute.
The album was described by Kim Taylor Bennett of Vice magazine as "drama-pop with a gothic tinge" and by Matthew Schneier of The New York Times as having "a glam-rock-ish, slightly psychedelic flavor".
Daphne & the Golden Chord (2018)
In April 2018, Guinness released her second album, Daphne & the Golden Chord, also produced by Visconti. The album was recorded on analog tapes at British Grove Studios in a three-week session. The band included 58 instrumentalists including timpani, tambourine, and bassoon players. Will Hodgkinson of The Times described the album as "aristocratic glam fuelled by wit, character and a clear and abiding love of rock'n'roll".
Revelations (2020)
Guinness' third album, Revelations, was released in August 2020. Like her prior two albums, it was produced by Visconti.
Thomas Barrie of British GQ said Revelations features "lusher, disco-inflected instrumentation, with flourishes arranged by Visconti in strings, and parts written for more experimental, obscure instruments like the theremin and ocarina". Guinness collaborated with David LaChapelle on a three-part film series also titled Revelations, which featured songs from the album and explored references to the Book of Revelation.
Sleep (2024)
Guinness released her fourth album, Sleep on June 21, 2024. The album was recorded at British Grove and Abbey Road studios. It was mixed by Ricky Damian, known for his work with Lady Gaga, Adele, Georgia Smith, Dua Lipa. Other collaborators on the album included Malcolm Doherty, Tony Visconti (who scored the album's strings), Guy Pratt and Rob Shirakbari. It also features a 34-piece string section.
Music videos
Guinness' music career began with the release in 2013 and 2014 of several music videos for songs which would later be included in her first album. These early videos include "Fatal Flaw" (directed by Nick Knight) in 2013, and "Evening in Space", directed by LaChapelle, in 2014. Jessie Peterson of MTV News said the video took the "fashion world to space". It featured costumes from designers such as Iris van Herpen and Noritaka Tatehana.
Charity work
Guinness has walked in two of Naomi Campbell's Fashion for Relief shows to raise funds for disaster victims. In April 2008, she auctioned off part of her wardrobe, with the proceeds going to a British charity called Womankind Worldwide, which deals with issues such as domestic violence.
Personal life
In 1987, she married Spyros Niarchos, the second son of Stavros Niarchos. The couple had three children. Her $39 million settlement, obtained at the time of her 1999 divorce, was added to her Guinness inheritance.
External links
Categories: Official Website, 1967 Births, Living People, English Fashion Designers, English Socialites, Actors From The London Borough Of Camden, Daphne, Daughters Of Barons, English People Of Irish Descent, Niarchos Family, British Women Fashion Designers, Actresses From London, People From Hampstead
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