Kiran's Corner: The style of Daphne Guinness

While I waited at the British Airways lounge in New York for my flight to London, I saw a familiar looking face on an oddly dressed woman, with a scarf around her head with a pair of huge, red, Beats by Dr. Dre headphones (pictured right) shielding her ears to the sounds of the world. I then saw her Lady Gaga-esque shoes and thought, no it can't be. The woman was bird-like and elegant, and unlike Gaga's drag queen-like manly features, was utterly graceful and feminine. It was only when I woke in the morning and waited outside the toilet on the plane, did the sleepy stranger who had pulled off her scarf during the flight and waited ahead of me in line, give away who she was- by showing off her hair.

On landing in London, the scarf (and headphones) were back on, and Daphne Guinness, the hauntingly beautiful woman who is also renown as one of the world's most stylish, tottered towards the gate in her crazy-ass shoes. A sweet Jordanian woman who was on the flight with me winked and nodded towards our fellow passengers gravity-defying heels. When I filled her in on who she was, she simply responded, "Who?? I thought she was an Emirates stewardess because of her head scarf!" An Emirates stewardess with a green crocodile Birkin in one hand, black Lindy thrown over the shoulder of the other, with a black trolley bag in tow? I don't think so. Her white shirt had massive jeweled cufflinks with what must be at least a 2 carat diamond at it's center.

For those who don't know who Daphne Guinness is, she is the original Gaga with a lot less talent but a lot more panache. Her last name gives away her brewing heritage, and she is the ex-wife of the Greek shipping heir, Spyros Niarchos, and mother of 3, including Stavros, the ex fiance of Paris Hilton. She is known for her fashion sense, her perfume with Comme de Garcons, a few films she has produced, her upcoming cosmetics line with Francois Nars, but more than anything, she is known for her penchant for couture and is probably one of it's largest buyers and collectors in the world. Her fashion sense ranges from quirky to the downright strange and obscure, but you've got to give her credit for not being a fashion victim and for being so true to her own bizarre style.
While going through her old interviews to write this piece, I came across an interesting quote of hers and smiled. This is an excerpt from a piece done on her only last month by New York Magazine-

Guinness looked around the party and sighed. “I’m dressed really weird.” Then again, she said she hadn’t dressed up for the fashion crowd. “I do it for the old people who laugh at me in airports,” she said.

I have to admit, the Jordanian woman was really amused . Me on the other hand? I would have loved to talk to her and tell her how much I absolutely adored her sense of style and loved that she was so strange and yet so true to her own strange idea of fashion. However, like I tweeted from the London airport- she had on those crazy Gaga shoes and I was wearing sequined FitFlops. It just didn't seem right!