Daphne Guinness: The Fantasy

Heiress, style icon, designer, filmmaker, and perfumer Daphne Guinness collaborated with her close friend David LaChapelle for the exclusive Maybach Zeppelin unveiling at Art Basel Miami Beach 2009. Premier Guide Miami sat down to find out what that means — and what comes next.

"She is the object of her own creativity. Her persona is her own masterpiece." — Daphne Guinness's close friend, art historian John Richardson.

A lengthy, slender figure floated through the hall of the Penthouse at the Raleigh on towering platforms, dressed in full-bodied black tights with spider-like jewels dangling all over. On her arm she wore a silver metal cuff — more like a piece of art — which she later told me she made herself.

Heads turned and mutters began: "It's Daphne Guinness," as she made a spectacular entrance. In an exclusive preview during Art Basel Miami Beach, December 5, 2009, David LaChapelle portrayed the Maybach Zeppelin luxury automobile, choosing Daphne Guinness to collaborate with him to show the vehicle in his signature fashion. As David said, the pieces are meant to be dreams — not taken literally — and that is simply what Daphne represents in those photographs: fantasy.

The strikingly beautiful Daphne Guinness was born in 1967, the daughter of brewery heir Jonathan Guinness (Lord Moyne) and French beauty Suzanne Lisney. She was brought up in England and Ireland, and vacationed in Spain. She is the ex-wife of Spyros Niarchos, son of the wealthy Greek shipping tycoon Stavros Niarchos.

"I don't do this for the money," she says. "David is my best friend, and when he first called me, I told him how cool it was. At the time I was in Paris, and he told me to jump on a plane to LA and bring some clothes with me." Throughout her marriage she had amassed a large collection of couture and designer pieces, so when summoned by David, she had no trouble packing her garbs and heading for LA to do the shoot.

"She is the only person I know who brings her own couture to a photo shoot," says David LaChapelle.

She is dubbed the most well-connected and fashionable woman in the industry. About two years ago, she created the Cathartic Experience — an auction where she sold 1,000 designer items bought during her marriage. She raised $158,000 for Womankind, a charity that deals with the political and domestic abuse of women worldwide. "It's about giving back, it's about doing things because you can," she said.

She has also created a new limited-edition fragrance, Daphne for Comme des Garcons, blending hints of amber, cypress, tuberose, and orange. Available at Barneys New York, Jeffrey, and Comme des Garcons boutiques.

"Someone said to me once, 'you should get a reality show.' I said, are you kidding me? I don't want reality, I want fantasy. I want the future, not now."

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