Daphne Guinness on the Magic of Music and the Legacy of Alexander McQueen

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At 50, Daphne Guinness isn’t exactly the average pop star. But an uncompromising attitude of doing what she wants, whenever the fuck she wants to goes a long way when it comes to radical career leaps mid-life. “I think things are meant to happen when they happen,” she tells CR in cut-glass English via a long distance phone call from the back of a cab. Last night Guinness performed in Paris, and this summer marks the release of her second album, Daphne & The Golden Chord, an 11-track offering produced by longtime David Bowie collaborator Tony Visconti. “I don’t mind that I’m not 18 anymore,” she says. “Coming to music at this age, I’m much better equipped to describe what’s going on with poetry. My musical sensibilities and melodies have matured—it’s quite magic, really.”

Before now, Guinness has been most known for working her own brand of unique visual magic in the film and fashion spheres. Among many impressive accolades—including the Oscar-nominated short, “Cashback” and a clothing range with Dover Street Market—she was the first to don Alexander McQueen’s impossibly high Armadillo boots from the designer’s penultimate show from Spring/Summer 2010. Measuring 12-inches high from ankle to floor, the shoes were not originally intended to be worn in “real” life settings by “real” people. “I used to do a lot of work with McQueen when he was alive,” she reflects. “I am very grateful for that, because I’m a great adventurer in all aspects of the world and I am comfortable embracing chaos—be it in music or in costume. Now that he’s gone, I just apply the same rules he taught me to whatever I’m wearing. McQueen made me a perfectionist about how things fit.”

The death of the designer, referred to as Lee by those who knew him, is one of many awful personal losses Guinness has experienced in the spate of the past decade. Between 2007 and 2010, he and another member of Guinness’s inner circle (the fashion editor, Isabella Blow), took their own lives. The trio were creative equals, sartorial adventurers—and above all—were close friends. Another emotional punch came in 2011 when her brother, Jasper Guinness, died from cancer. Yet again, in 2016 with the passing of David Bowie—a musical mentor and much-cherished confidante. “I have the T-shirt for tragedy; The suicides, the violence of it all…” Guinness says, trailing off. “Nothing will ever replace my friends, but I do my best to talk about things and help others. I miss them all terribly and constantly.”

Looking for a way to process her grief, she found herself in a recording studio with Tony Visconti in 2013. The duo were connected via mutual friends, and Guinness arrived with armfuls of self-penned poetry and a rough outline of the melodies she’d like to lay down. Bowie was in the studio too, and listened to the initial cut of songs for her first album—2016’s tellingly-titled, Optimist in Black. “I had a lot of anxiety with the first album, but David was really encouraging. There’s always that hesitation that people won’t like the music, but I’m doing it for no other reason than I love doing it. With this second album, I’m more at peace with the fact that some people will like it and others will chose to listen to something else.”

But many people do like Guinness’s blend of kaleidoscopic electronica. Her debut was met with critical acclaim and now she’s hoping to make a bigger splash with her sophomore recording. Along with the aforementioned concerts in the French capital and an already released Nick Knight-directed music video, she’s announced plans to create a theatrical presentation of sorts to accompany Daphne & The Golden Chord early next year. Drawing on her ties with the fashion industry, she describes the currently untitled production as the perfect combination of “sound and vision.” Guinness auctioned off a section of her extensive couture archive—including one-off pieces by McQueen and Christian Lacroix—to benefit the Isabella Blow Foundation in 2012, but concedes she’s still capable of single-handedly stocking the costume department.

The cathartic nature of Guinness’s penmanship is prevalent on the new record, along with a penchant for classical music that can be traced back to her father (“He would play Bach on the piano and I would sing along in bed.”) In the song “Captain Catastrophe,” she tackles the destructive nature of trauma: “Your polar caps are melting and your heroes are all gone…. leaving little pieces of your trailing tattered soul,” she sings with Debbie Harry-like insouciance. In “But I’m Not,” Guinness turns her focus to the perils of a bad relationship. Lyrics throughout are delivered in English, German, and French. “My parents and children are very multilingual,” she shrugs off modestly.

On her creative process: “It’s difficult to describe, but at the same time it’s quite simple. The visual world needs a soundtrack and vice versa. It goes back to that sense of magic again,” she says. “The more I do, the more I understand. I’m not religious, but it’s a spiritual experience.”

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