London

See our exclusive behind-the-scenes photoshoot

It’s just a few days into the year and London is still eerily quiet and deathly cold. Gareth Pugh, a long-time friend and admirer of Time Out has decided on his dream cover star, Daphne Guinness, the enigmatic 41-year-old brewing heiress (daughter of Irish stout magnate Jonathan Guinness and French belle Suzanne Lisney). Matt Irwin, London’s sprightly fashion photographer of the moment, turns up with his perky pink-haired assistant, Bella. Someone mentions tea.

‘Oh, I love tea. I have to take tea bags wherever I go. Never the same when you’re in New York,’ says Guinness in that incredibly posh English accent, wrinkling her tiny nose. ‘Make mine a builders’.’ Feature continues

Today, roughing it elegantly with her feet perched up on a portable electric heater, Guinness is wearing her usual uniform: metallic leggings, skinny black cashmere over a crisp white shirt (one she designed for Dover Street Market), a smattering of enormous heirloom diamond rings and mighty Christian Louboutin platforms (he custom-makes them especially for her).

Pugh, the 27-year-old designer is equally enchanting. Responsible for recapturing and reinventing the spirit of British fashion – in the same way that John Galliano and Alexander McQueen did before him – with his bold, stark, futuristic vision of clothing, he is also leading the new troupe of talented London-based designers. Pugh’s been a regular visitor to Time Out since we heralded his first show in 2005 celebrating his ‘pure vision, macabre clothes and sense of adventure’ and he recently starred as one of last September’s 40 heroes in Time Out’s fortieth-anniversary issue.

Like Guinness, Pugh has a thing for a lean silhouette, shiny trousers, exotic furs and leather. His monochromatic palette and uncompromising, geometric cuts seem to work perfectly on Guinness’s birdlike frame. And so it was only a matter of time before the Honourable Daphne Guinness became Pugh’s unlikely muse.

‘Daphne is one of those people who really knows what she wants,’ he says. ‘She’s an iconic, fashion-forward, thinking kind of person and she’s interested and excited about different things.’ Pugh met Guinness properly just a few months ago when she went for a fitting with him. She has, somewhat unwittingly, filled the void on the London fashion scene that the late hat-wearing Isabella Blow left when she committed suicide nearly two years ago. Guinness, a distant relative and great friend of Blow’s, champions young British talent with equal relish, and her fashion sense is similarly eccentric. Forget Kate Moss, Ms Guinness is the latest thoroughbred clotheshorse every hip young designer hopes might wear their clothes these days.

‘She’s a very big supporter of creativity, which I have great admiration for,’ says Pugh. ‘It’s kind of like a hobby for her – acquiring amazing things – and that’s a good thing, especially today as people want something to kind of dream about and wish for.’

When Guinness came across Pugh’s designs, it was love at first sight. ‘I saw the clothes at Bergdorf and then I just started researching online,’ she says, as her skunk-striped hair is sculpted into an impressive bouffant. ‘I’d never seen anyone doing architectural pieces the way he does them – they were easy yet so complicated – not like clothes. You think they are going to be incredibly difficult to put on and then you just put them on and it’s like being in a space movie. The construction is incredible. I ended up buying stuff wherever I could find it.’

The hairdryer stops, Guinness and Gareth are ready for the shoot. She looks down at the impressive, eye-popping outfit. ‘It’s more than clothes, so geometric. It ticks all the boxes for me. It’s mathematical, many of the pieces are cut on the bias and they sort of solidify when you put them on,’ she says striding on to set arm-in-arm with Gareth to be snapped by Irwin. A few minutes in, after some dynamic poses and killer looks, the photographer declares with some glee: ‘She’s fierce!’ Suddenly this happy new marriage in fashion makes perfect sense.

See our exclusive behind-the-scenes photoshoot