Daphne Guinness

Daphne Guinness, an heiress of the Guinness fortune and former wife of Spyros Niarchos, son of the Greek shipping billionaire Stavros Niarchos, is a fashion icon who used some of her fortune to collect imporant couture looks from the greatest designers of our time.  Her collection is now on display at FIT's Museum in New York, and today I took the opportunity to go see it.

This photo of Daphne was used in the exhibit's brochure. It captures her artistic and unique style well.

Daphne's collection reflects her knowledge of and respect for fashion.  She collects items from notable designers and young designers alike to capture what's special and cutting-edge.  Everything she collects is beyond the clutter of what currently infiltrates retail stores, and this is probably why her obsession with collecting has ceased--almost everything out there today is a knock-off of something else, and rarely is it daring and different from what can be seen in the next store. 

She said:

"We need better things, not more.  We should not pollute the world with meaningless, unused thigns when we can make and support things of rare and precious beauty."

Therefore, her exhibit at FIT can arguably be considered her ultimate goal because it captures the essence of how artistic ("rare and precious") fashion can be.  The exhibit succcessfully educates students and the general public who share her love of fashion about some of the most innovative designs ever made.