“I don’t know what I’m wearing,” responded Daphne Guinness when a reporter asked her at yesterday’s lunch held by the FIT Couture Council honoring Valentino. “[I got dressed in] five minutes. I can’t think about what I’m going to wear, because then I start whirling and I’m going, oh my god.” She doesn’t miss her McQueen dresses, which are still away on loan for the “Savage Beauty” exhibit. “I like people to see them. That’s what they’re there for, you know. None of us are here forever; I think it’s terrible when people just hoard.” How did she choose which garments to include in her forthcoming FIT show? “I did it in like two and a half hours. Like ching, ching, ching, ching,” she said, jabbing the air with her finger as though pointing to garments. “I would have probably styled it differently ten years ago. And I’m glad to say that it all makes sense.” She paused. “There’s only one thing that I was not keen on. I wasn’t, like, horrified, I don’t think … I don’t know. Whatever. We all make mistakes. But I was nicely surprised, because it was jolly easy to sort of put together.” She’s still nervous about it, though: “Oh boy, am I scared. To death. I feel sick,” she confessed.
Meanwhile, Valentino said he’d had to cut his vacation short for his honorary lunch. “I was on my boat, cruising in Croatia, and I had to stop to come to New York to get this award. But this is very important.” Does he bring his dogs when he comes to New York? “Just two. Because there are six; six is too much.”