Buyers at Daphne Guinness’s Christies auction this week were witnesses to a moment in fashion history…
Daphne Guinness is no stranger to big bottom lines. She’s the heir to the Guinness fortune, after all.
However, the auction of her spectacular closet at Christie’s in London this week, including one-off Alexander McQueens and couture dresses, must have surprised even her. It raised nearly 500,000 pounds.
It’s for a good cause, too – the Isabella Blow Foundation, a foundation formed after Blow killed herself. Guinness was one of Blow’s personal friends, and the foundation aims to help young designers kick-start their careers, while a part of its charity is set aside for research into mental illness.
The biggest-name bidder? Lady Gaga herself – though nobody knows what she bought. Gaga and Guinness were both friends with the late Alexander McQueen, and it’s speculated she bought herself one of his vintage pieces – Guinness has been collecting his fashion since the very start of his career in London.
One of the highest-selling lots wasn’t a piece of clothing at all, but an original photograph of Guinness by Mario Testino, the high-fashion photographer who once dated Kate Moss. It sold for a mind-boggling 131,000 pounds – a record for a Testino print.
Guinness reportedly took a lot of time to select clothing for the sale, but told reporters afterwards she hadn’t been ambitious enough.
“I should have put more clothing in,” she told reporters. “I wanted to celebrate Isabella – she was one of the most interesting funny people I have ever known. And I feel so great that all of these things will go on to have lives with other people.”
Guinness does not like to be known as a collector of clothing – she sells regularly to replace and update her outfits.
The sale is a good sign that despite the current economic dire straits, buyers are still interested in fashion history – for a good cause.
Image: Guinness.
Dolce & Gabbana are set to send their very first couture line down the runway in Sicily this week.
On July 9, the house will debut a couture collection – but only for buyers, not for the press – at a private show.
Dolce and Gabbana themselves, the men behind the line (who broke up a few years ago but continue to collaborate professionally), are giving no comment, but the mood is increasingly excited.
This represents a total shift in priority for the brand, which closed its less expensive line, D&G, last year to focus on the main production. Couture takes an enormous investment, both in work and showmanship – the Paris couture collections, which happen once a year, take thousands of man-hours to execute, from beading intricate dresses to enormous sets.
The couture buyer is extremely selective, and most gowns are one-offs.
So why couture? Because it’s safer, according to analysts. Luxury buyers aren’t affected by the global recession – or their expenditure is in the tens of millions rather than the hundreds. The women who buy couture are still interested, while the people who would have bought D&G are tightening their belts.
Dolce & Gabbana are famous for their sultry, Italian-inspired look, but don’t get your hopes up to see the collection. No press are invited, and the location is far away from the tradition Paris shows – probably to keep critics at bay, since a debut collection is often risky.
And with ad campaigns starring Madonna, Monica Belluci and Scarlett Johansson, we’re dying to see whether the couture makes it into the ad mainstream.
Do you think they have what it takes to make it in the flamboyant, all-systems-go couture world?
Image: Dolce & Gabbana 2012 show.
