A life-changing fashion shoot with Karl Lagerfeld, Daphne Guinness, and Amanda Harlech

Ever since I launched Fast + Louche at Karl Lagerfeld’s legendary library and photo studio, 7L, during the couture shows in Paris, I’ve been thinking about all the magic that he created in that room, surrounded by thousands of books, all of which he claimed to have read. (I believe him!)

It remains exactly as he left it when he died in 2019, and walking back into this space brought back a flood of memories.

This is where Karl photographed his Chanel campaigns, celebrity portraits for books (like this one), and some of the most memorable fashion editorials of his career for magazines like Harper’s Bazaar and V—the very publications where I cut my teeth as a fledgling fashion editor in the early 2000s.

Lady Amanda Harlech: “When I walked out on set with my blonde hairpieces, Karl burst out laughing and said I looked like a hausfrau. I won’t be doing it again, but secretly I did love the allure of Daphne’s blondeness. It was like playing the princess role instead of always being the witch.”

This week, while living my best suburban-dad life in the Hamptons—camp drop-offs, grocery runs, bedtime stories—I had time to dig through my archives.

I had to dig through old hard drives, daily planners, and contact sheets, but there it was: the issue containing one of my favorite fashion stories I've ever worked on—and one I'm thrilled to revisit with you today.

It’s the Fall 2011 “Transformation” issue of V magazine. That’s Penélope Cruz on the cover, photographed by Mert & Marcus, with a lenticular winking smile:

(And yes, fashion history buffs, it was inspired by the infamous April 1965 issue of Harper’s Bazaar, featuring Richard Avedon‘s portrait of Jean Shrimpton in a hot-pink helmet with a lenticular wink.)

I still can’t believe the team: Karl was the photographer. I was the sitting editor. The stars were Lady Amanda Harlech and Daphne Guinness.

Here’s the call sheet as it was pasted in my 2011 planner, which was a PR gift from the fine folks at Prada. (The brand still makes them.)

A few months earlier, I had nervously pitched Karl the concept. Amanda and Daphne were his two defining muses at the time, each with one of fashion’s most recognizable personal styles: Amanda’s poetic, romantic elegance; Daphne’s gothic, futuristic glamour. What if they transformed into each other? Rather than celebrating their differences, we’d blur them into the ultimate couture creature.

To my utter delight—and slight disbelief—Karl loved the idea. So did Amanda and Daphne.

There was just one problem: I was a 28-year-old fashion writer with almost no styling experience, so I assumed someone else would be on set to make it all happen. But nope. When Karl said yes, he assumed I’d be on set to style the story myself.

“You got yourself into this,” V editor-in-chief Stephen Gan told me when Karl’s fax came through. (Yes, I said a fax.) “Good luck!”

Today’s newsletter includes a handful of never-before-seen behind-the-scenes photographs from that extraordinary day, followed by the original interviews I conducted with Amanda and Daphne about style, creativity, and the remarkable careers they’ve built.

I hope you enjoy this little trip back in time as much as I enjoyed rediscovering it.

Note: All this nostalgia about Karl—not to mention recent conversations about couture history—has reminded me of one of my favorite fashion books: The Beautiful Fall by Alicia Drake, first published in 2006. It chronicles the extraordinary rivalry between Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent as they came of age in 1970s Paris, weaving together fashion, ambition, love, jealousy, and the glittering social world that shaped them both. I devoured it when it first came out, and I’ve recommended it to friends ever since as one of the great summer fashion reads. I’m planning to reread it while I’m traveling next week.

If you’ve never picked it up—or it’s been years since you have—consider this your invitation to join me.