Daphne Guinness and Shaun Leane Against The World

Daphne Guinness is familiar with the macabre, and her latest artistic display is no exception. The heiress chose to display her collaboration with British jewelry designer Shaun Leane posed as…a corpse! A little creepy? Yes. But as always, Guinness manages to convey an undeniable otherworldly beauty.

The collaborative piece, titled Contra Mundum – “Against The World” – came about when Guinness asked Leane, who is behind the over-the-top baubles at Alexander McQueen’s shows, to make her a piece of body armor. Thus was born the 18-carat white gold cross between an evening glove and armor. Covered in chain mail and 5,000 pave white diamonds fashioned to look like a flock of birds and branches, the elaborate glove is for sale for $1.76 million.

Guinness displayed the piece at the Georgian townhouse of Jay Jopling, where she lay across a long slab. Clad in an Alexander McQueen bodysuit, the heiress was covered in an antique veil with just the diamond encrusted arm poking out.

Tom Ford plants a kiss on the corpse-like Guinness

“We wanted to push the boundaries of jewelry design,” Leane told WWD. “This was a labor of love, and is just the beginning of an ongoing collaboration between us.”

Guests at the debut cocktail event included Tom Ford, Sarah Burton, Gareth Pugh (who had the task of covering Guinness in the veil), Lily Cole, Jefferson Hack, Tom Parker Bowles and more.

Shaun Leane and Sarah Burton

We can’t wait to see what comes next from this duo – we’re crossing our fingers for a whole suit of armor.

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