“The more you concentrate on something, the more it shows. I can’t get dressed if I think about it too much,…I don’t dress for effect, and I think that it never works out when someone does.”
- The Hon. Daphne Guinness
Image: Karl Lagerfeld for V Magazine
“I moved on from deconstructing my school uniform via punk, to Tess of the D’Urbervilles and the eponymous Geisha to an edge which I now recognise as ‘Amanda,….[My look has become] stronger, more distilled and less scattered.”
- Lady Amanda Harlech
Within the fashion realm, Daphne Guinness and Amanda Harlech could be defined as the industry’s darlings.
Daphne is an heiress of the Guinness family, a collector of Haute Couture and has a keen interest in the use of armour as fashion. Guinness was once married to the Greek shipping heir Spyros Niarchos and is the mother of Nick Niarchos, Alexis Niarchos and Ines Niarchos.
The heiress is fashionably unpredictable and reflects upon previous historical eras to gain inspiration for her unique sense of style. In 2010 with Isabella Blow’s recent death, Daphne Guinness bought the magazine editor’s entire wardrobe. Guinness’ purchase aimed to “prevent Issie’s possessions becoming mere morbid memorbilia…to preserve it”.
Image: Karl Lagerfeld for V Magazine
Lady Amanda Harlech has inhabited the fashion domain for nearly three decades. She has been a muse, an inspiration and an interpreter for style greats such as John Galliano and Karl Lagerfeld.
Lady Harlech describes herself as a pathfinder, one who is working her way through a narrative line, trying to find a natural truth. With a background in English Literature from Oxford University, Harlech notes the similarities between the questioning techniques she employed in her literature studies and those which she utilises at the House of Chanel, to help Karl Lagerfeld fully express his creative visions.
This week, Harlech spoke to ShowStudio.com and defined fashion as a “process of discovery, or rejection, or abandonment, or transformation”.
V Magazine and Karl Lagerfeld, this month, have collaborated to transform Harlech’s vision of fashion into a reality. Lady Harlech and The Hon. Daphne Guinness are long-time fashionable comrades and features in V Mag’s editorial as each other.
Image: Karl Lagerfeld for V Magazine
In the editorial, Lady Amanda is photographed in a Chanel Haute Couture gown, a gift from Karl Lagerfeld. Sarah Burton, from Alexander McQueen, recently designed the creation Miss Guinness exhibits.
In the accompanying interview, their personal style, their friendship and their transformation are each under discussion.
How the two became best friends:
Daphne Guinness:
I honestly can’t remember where, but it’s been nearly two decades now. I do, however, remember my first impression: she was the most beautiful person I had ever encountered in my life, like an ethereal fairy. She has become a kindred spirit who, like me, loves the idea of beautiful things more than the concept of fashion. She’s a very well-rounded person, and has a good amount of distance from the drama of it all. And, since we’re speaking of transformations, allow me to say what’s inside of her hasn’t changed. Ever.
Amanda Harlech:
I met Daphne at a fashion show in London. I forget the designer, but I remember being mesmerized by this modern Anna Karenina, a fragile bird in a tilting hat with a veil, porcelain skin, and dark, lustrous eyes that looked like they were full of tears. There was a dark velvet, blackish purple something, a ribbon maybe, and gloves, and delicacy, and a peal of laughter with a lyric voice from another century. Yeah, it was love at first sight!
How it felt to transform into one another:
Amanda Harlech:
When I walked out on set with my blonde hairpieces, Karl burst out laughing and said I looked like a hausfrau. I won’t be doing it again, but secretly I did love the allure of Daphne’s blondeness. It was like playing the princess role instead of always being the witch.
Daphne Guinness:
I trust Karl implicitly, but I wasn’t entirely excited about becoming a brunette. Yet, the end result was something magical: I was very surprised, and I wasn’t expecting Karl to take as many pictures as he did. I sort of channeled Amanda at the end, and she was channeling me, and it was extraordinary. Let’s be honest: it could have gone horribly wrong, but it was a stroke of genius on Karl’s part.
Image: Karl Lagerfeld for V Magazine
The final image exhibits the execution of Lagerfeld’s transformation. Unexpectedly, the change is subtle. With a change of hair colour and couture gown, it is striking how aesthetically alike Guinness and Harlech are.
