Daphne Guinness.

fashion
9/3/2009

We recommend the Guinness...


by Dean Mayo Davies


Daphne Guinness is an icon. Not only for her taste and refinement but her passion for life; a vitality that craves education and information about every single thing in the world. A personality of contradictions, she is at once a privileged nomad and a switched-on, humble individual with an eye for the zeitgeist. Brought up between Ireland, England, Paris and Cadaques - the Spanish town home to Dalí, Duchamp and Man Ray, she’s beyond rational classification. And that’s what makes her special.



The occasion for our fleeting insight into her world? Her eponymous fragrance, produced by Comme des Garçons at the invitation of Adrian Joffe, under the eye (and nose) of parfumer Antoine Lie. It's a project that follows in the footsteps of other olfactory guests such as Monocle magazine and Finnish furniture brand Artek. “I’m a very visual person,” Guinness insists. “I find it very hard to actually talk about scents because they are images, memories in my mind.” 

A film in conjunction with All Day Every Day and co-director David Parker, Mnemosyne, takes this concept further, the 3 minute short an evocative snapshot of flux, fluidity and the thought processes that connect associations with experience. It will be released through the internet, free to make an untamed journey through links, file-sharing and blogging. "I'm not a commerical person; it is the creative process that fascinates me," Daphne says. "This is not an advertisement for the perfume, it is a film inspired by the essence of scent."
   
When, having moved off-topic for a second, regarding her collection of haute couture, Guinness is quiet. “Yeah, I have some great things,” she says, underplaying her eye and textbook knowledge - which stretches far beyond fashion, into history, culture, sociology, politics and every blurred boundary in between. She has sold a lot of her archive, with the proceeds going to charity. But you won’t hear her boast of such - the manners and integrity that run through her come from an old-school modesty not found in our era of docusoaps, gossip sites and celebrity magazines. The older she gets, she says, the simpler her cravings become, like a process of refinement. But not when it comes to the bespoke, bionic arm...  

The following conversation took place after a celebratory breakfast hosted by Tim Blanks, Adrian Joffe and Daphne Guinness at George’s on London’s Mount Street.  

Dean Mayo Davies: So perhaps we should start by asking how you see Daphne’s perfume fitting in with the rest of the Comme des Garçons fragrances, Adrian?  

Adrian Joffe: Perfectly. For me, I can’t do anything that won’t fit in - it won’t be possible, it won’t be meaningful. Because of Daphne, because of Antoine, because of not compromising or putting any kind of restrictions on the creation - Daphne wanted to do a red velvet bag, ‘of course you can have a red velvet bag!’ And then she wanted a linen box - so I said ‘of course you can’t have a linen box!’ (laughs). No, of course we did the research that made that possible. Creation is number one priority and the name on the label equals what the perfume is.  

DMD: There are complicated details throughout...  

AJ: Exactly. It’s simple yet complicated.  

Daphne Guinness: The process was quite difficult too. One of the hardest things in fact was finding a way to print on the linen which makes the box...  

Antoine Lie: ...Ah the lithographie.  

DMD: So a challenge every step of the way? I think it’s really important during this time that people continue to push things with really idiosyncratic projects. It’s probably the worst moment to do so but conversely brave products are more valuable than ever... 

AL: With the crisis, a lot of brands want to launch quick fragrances, fast-money things that are not going to last. You have to please right away, like as if it’s shampoo or a loaf of bread. I’ve worked with Christian [Astuguevieille, creative director, Comme des Garçons Parfums] and Adrian for some time now and they expect to be challenged. I like that. There are classic, rare ingredients that are not so used because of the economic climate but here there were no such constraints. It was the liberty of doing exactly what Daphne wanted. That’s why it’s so Comme des Garçons.  

AJ: We’re able to do all this because there’s no middle men, we don’t work with big distributors, we don’t have to take as big a margin as others do. We do it directly so we’re able to cut the margins and do a better quality product.  

DMD: What other fragrances have you worked on for Comme, Antoine?  

AL: I worked on 888, some of the Energy C series. Some are coming (laughs). Those two are the main and... Undercover? Can I say that?  

AJ: Yes. It’s not out yet but that’s on the way too. It’s amazing.  

DMD: I’m looking forward to that...  

AL: Basically we are two parfumers [Lie, Givaudan] working for Comme des Garçons and now we are starting to work together on some projects. It’s an interesting combination, dynamic. Eighty percent of my time I would say is working on ‘bankable’ fragrances for people - this is different, it’s what I’d class as the artistic side of my job. I’m here not to please everybody but to make a statement, something different.  

DMD: Did it take you back to the passion you felt when you first became a nose?  

AL: Exactly.  

DMD: And it’s a good relationship the three of you are building together; Christian, Adrian and yourself. It will ultimately make future projects stronger, the more you continue to become intuitive and work around each other.  
 
AL: You know, I lost sense of time working on this project. I thought it was one year, but Daphne reminded me it was nearly two.   

AJ: Can I ask a question, Antoine? Could you see a man wearing Daphne’s fragrance?  
AL: That’s a good question. If you look at some ingredients they are so dark, masculine, very strong - not so feminine. I think a man could wear it.  

AJ: A unique man, not every man of course. I really like that you say that because we’ve never said ‘we’re going to make a men’s fragrance’ or ‘we’re going to make a women’s fragrance’ in our history, in over 15 years. It’s nice to break barriers.  

DG: Maybe because there’s quite a lot of amber in it...  

AL: And oud and vetiver. It’s funny because working with Comme des Garçons I’ve never thought about ‘male’ or ‘female’.  

DG: That’s what I love too. It’s human, not anything else. It’s about the self. I remember going mad for incense throughout the development...  

DMD: You’ve said that you used to make your own fragrances at home too, Daphne. How does it feel to have this one - democratic, released beyond your control into the ether? Do you relish the idea of other people wearing something so personal to you? 

DG: I’m really happy with that, more than happy with it! (pauses). I wish I was a nose, in fact. How did you become one, Antoine? How did you decide? 

AL: I grew up in a family not connected with the fragrance industry, but I remember from a very young age being intrigued by smell. I was very sensitive to it and suddently at 12 or 13 years old I discovered there was such a thing as a ‘nose’.  

DG: It’s a vocation...  

AL: You become a chemist and then if you are ‘connected’ to what you’re doing you can become a nose. It’s quite a small, closed world. And when you start, you are in a small room working, smelling ingredients, learning them - if you’re claustrophobic or unmotivated it’s difficult.  

DG: I read about some people in America that, whenever they’re launching a packet of crisps or biscuits or whatever, they can tell exactly what kind of wheat and what sort of salt is in them. They’re tasters... it’s a different thing but it correlates. For me, making perfume was a very visceral thing, but during this process I learnt the science too. The world is fascinating isn’t it? It’s incredible...  

DMD: Can I go off topic for a second? How did you get your fascination with armour, Daphne? It’s something I’m really into as well...  

DG: It started with the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man, in the 70’s I think. Oh and also to protect myself from my brother! And Joan of Arc and Henry V - I’ve always loved that idea of riding into battle, they all looked so fantastic. The crusades. All of that made me love it - I often go to the Wallace Collection to look at it. Have you been?  

DMD: Yes, it’s really extensive. Just amazing.  

DG: Incredible, just incredible. That’s what I do when I’m free, I go and look around...  
AJ: They have a good collection of armour?  

DG: Oh my god, it’s INSANE. They have Turkish, Chinese - if you see the detailing. And it’s so accessible. They have the best snuffboxes, the greatest furniture there too. I love history and metals and alchemy and I also have an obsession with blacksmiths and King Arthur! When I started making this [gestures to metal gauntlet on her left arm] with [jeweller] Shaun [Leane], I told him I wanted to look like I’d been in a very chic road wreck. (laughs). It’s about the idea of protection. This is just the prototype, there’s a new version coming - white gold, rhodium plated, diamonds and chainmail. With beautiful engraving like you’d find on a pair of shotguns. So intricate...   

You know the thing about fashion is that unless we, the human race, mutate into having a third arm or leg, everything is just going to be an appropriation or reference as to what’s come before...  

AJ: Yes, but sometimes you put three sleeves on a jacket even though you only need two...  

DG: Yes! And I have that Comme jacket, I love it!  



DMD  



‘Daphne’ is available from Friday 4th September 2009 at Dover Street Market and in department and speciality stores worldwide from 18th September, including Comme des Garçons stores. 

www.doverstreetmarket.com         






 

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