Daphne Guinness

Daphne Guinness has been at various times a designer, a stylist, a writer, a film-maker, a collector, and a perfumer all led by her unique eye and singular creative vision. She was born in London in 1967, the daughter of Jonathan Guinness and renowned French beauty Suzanne Lisney. She was raised between Ireland, England, Paris and Cadeques, the coastal Spanish town made famous by Salvador Dali, Duchamp and Man Ray.

After a year at the Slade School of Fine Art, Daphne moved to New York City in the early 80’s where she fell in love with the Warhol set. Daphne has studied drama and music, but it is in the fashion industry that she holds the most sway. That’s partly due to a personal style as distinctive and idiosyncratic as that of her late friend Isabella Blow. Daphne has worked with Tatler and collaborated with photographers David La Chapelle, Steven Klein, Steven Meisel, Solve Sundsbo and Sean Ellis and designers like the late Alexander McQueen, Karl Lagerfeld and Valentino. She has also appeared in campaigns for Akris, NARS and Maybach.

As muse and mentor, she has nurtured other artist visions including the Oscar nominated short film, Cashback, directed by Sean Ellis, for which she served as Executive Producer. Daphne put on a Director’s cap for her first short film entitled The Phenomenology of Body which premiered on The New York Times website. Her second foray into directing, Mnemosyne, was inspired by a fragrance she created for Comme des Garçons. Her fascination with armor has inspired a project with Shaun Leane, who is creating a diamond and chain mail gauntlet for her.

Daphne is an aesthete in the grandest sense of the word; she is adventurous in her appreciation of art, fashion, music and literature. She has established her place in the fashion world and continues to be at the forefront of innovative ideas, creative ingenuity and experimentation.