Amanda Harlech
{{Short description|British writer and creative consultant}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
Amanda Jane Ormsby-Gore, Baroness Harlech (née Grieve; May 1958), is a British creative consultant, writer and actress with a long association with the couturiers John Galliano and Karl Lagerfeld. She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1997.{{cite web|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/bestdressed/bestdressed_women?currentPage=1 |title=World's Best Dressed Women |work=The International Hall of Fame: Women |year=1997 |access-date=18 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130712215415/http://www.vanityfair.com/style/the-international-best-dressed-list/hall-of-fame-women |archive-date=12 July 2013 }}{{cite book |author1= Eleanor Lambert|author2=Bettina Zilkha| title=Ultimate Style – The Best of the Best Dressed List| page=161| isbn= 2843235138| year=2004|publisher=Assouline}}
Early life
Amanda Jane Grieve was born in 1958 in north London, the daughter of Alan Grieve, a solicitor and director of the Jerwood Foundation, and his first wife, Anne Dulake.{{cite book |title= Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood|publisher=Burke's Peerage & Gentry |editor= Mosley, Charles |editor-link=Charles Mosley (genealogist) |edition=107 |year= 2003 |page=1792 |ref=Burke |isbn=0-9711966-2-1}} She grew up in Regent's Park where one of her childhood companions was Jasper Conran.{{cite news|title=Amanda Harlech's highland fling with Chanel|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/womens-style/52425/amanda-harlechs-highland-fling-with-chanel.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141123120147/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/womens-style/52425/amanda-harlechs-highland-fling-with-chanel.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2014-11-23|work=The Daily Telegraph}}
She was educated at South Hampstead High School and Marlborough College before studying English at Somerville College, Oxford, specialising in the work of Henry James.{{cite news| url=http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/article/TMG3363816/Amanda-Harlech-a-charmed-life.html| title=Amanda Harlech: a charmed life| publisher=The Telegraph| author=Justine Picardie| author-link = Justine Picardie| date=2 December 2007| access-date=9 February 2015| quote=She won a scholarship to South Hampstead girls' school, and stayed there until she was 16, when she went to board at Marlborough for her A-levels.}}
Career
Harlech worked with John Galliano during his years as an independent couturier. When Galliano joined Dior in 1996, she joined Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel. She also works as a consultant at Fendi.{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/lady-amanda-harlech-i-really-like-getting-my-hands-dirty-6291298.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123073920/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/lady-amanda-harlech-i-really-like-getting-my-hands-dirty-6291298.html |archive-date=2012-01-23 |url-access=limited |url-status=live| website=independent.co.uk| title=LADY AMANDA HARLECH: 'I REALLY LIKE GETTING MY HANDS DIRTY'| author=Alex Fury| access-date=22 January 2010}}
Harlech has collaborated on two books – Palazzo and Sicily – and has expressed the desire to write more in the future.{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2007/aug/19/features.magazine67| website=theguardian.com| title=My Brilliant Career| author=Lynn Barber|access-date=19 August 2007}}
In November 2011, Harlech appeared in Karl Lagerfeld's film The Tale of a Fairy{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=13569314 |title=Entertainment News, Celebrity and Pop Culture |work=ABC News |date=25 August 2013 |access-date=20 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828184035/https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=13569314 |archive-date=28 August 2011 }} and the Patricia Mazuy film Sport de Filles with Marina Hands, Bruno Ganz and Josiane Balasko.{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1655771/|title=Amanda Harlech|website=IMDb }}
In December 2011, Harlech curated the Krug-sponsored "Happiness" exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.{{cite web |author=jameslacey |url=http://blog.thisismission.com/2011/11/23/the-krug-happiness-exhibition/ |title=Mission Public Relations | The Krug Happiness Exhibition |publisher=Blog.thisismission.com |date=23 November 2011 |access-date=20 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053512/http://blog.thisismission.com/2011/11/23/the-krug-happiness-exhibition/ |archive-date=21 September 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }} The exhibition, which raised funds for the Royal Academy Schools, consisted of artworks donated by celebrities.{{cite news |url=http://londonersdiary.standard.co.uk/2011/12/freud-slips-quietly-into-the-ra-.html |title=Freud Slips Quietly into the RA |work=vLex |publisher=Londoner's Diary | Evening Standard |date=13 December 2011 |access-date=20 September 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710080832/http://londonersdiary.standard.co.uk/2011/12/freud-slips-quietly-into-the-ra-.html |archive-date=10 July 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}
In May 2013, Harlech appeared in Karl Largerfeld's film Once Upon A Time,{{cite web|url=http://hypebeast.com/2013/5/once-upon-a-time-starring-keira-knightley-by-karl-lagerfeld |title=Once Upon A Time Starring Keira Knightley by Karl Lagerfeld |publisher=Hypebeast |date=10 May 2013 |access-date=20 September 2013}} featuring Keira Knightley.
In September 2013, Harlech is seen in the Fendi film Invito Pericoloso .{{Cite web |url=http://www.herworldplus.com/fashion/updates/watch-latest-fendi-new-film-%E2%80%9Cinvito-pericoloso%E2%80%9D-karl-lagerfeld |title=Watch the latest Fendi new film "Invito Pericoloso" by Karl Lagerfeld | herworldPLUS |access-date=15 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231206/http://www.herworldplus.com/fashion/updates/watch-latest-fendi-new-film-%E2%80%9Cinvito-pericoloso%E2%80%9D-karl-lagerfeld |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}
In February 2014, Harlech, with Dominic Jones, started a jewellery collection called Harlot & Bones.{{cite web | url=http://www.wwd.com/accessories-news/jewelry/amanda-harlech-dominic-jones-to-launch-jewelry-7506303?src=nl/mornReport/20140226 | title=Amanda Harlech, Dominic Jones to Launch Jewelry | work=Women's Wear Daily | date=26 February 2014 | access-date=26 February 2014 | author=Samantha Conti with contributions from Lorelei Marfil}}
In 2015, Harlech curated the first and only retrospective of Karl Lagerfeld's fashion career at The Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany – Bundeskunsthalle.
She made a brief appearance in the Karl Lagerfeld-directed Once and Forever, starring Kristen Stewart, Geraldine Chaplin, and Jérémie Elkaïm.{{Cite web |url=http://www.crfashionbook.com/video/chanel-once-and-forever/ |access-date=7 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151205113825/http://www.crfashionbook.com/video/chanel-once-and-forever/ |archive-date=5 December 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all| title=CR Fashion book }}
Personal life
On May 16, 1986, she married Francis Ormsby-Gore, 6th Baron Harlech, adopting the surname 'Harlech'. The couple had two children:
- Jasset David Cody Ormsby-Gore, 7th Baron Harlech (b. 1 July 1986), studied at Central St Martins
- The Hon. Tallulah Sylvia Ormsby-Gore (b. 16 May 1988), studied at the New York Film Academy.
Harlech and her husband were divorced on 31 August 1998. She now lives in Shropshire, with a base at the Hôtel Ritz Paris for the city's fashion shows.
Titles
- Miss Amanda Grieve (1958–1986)
- The Right Honourable The Lady Harlech (1986–1998)
- Amanda, Lady Harlech (1998–present)
References
{{Reflist|2|refs=}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harlech, Amanda}}
Category:British people of English descent
Category:People educated at South Hampstead High School
Category:People educated at Marlborough College
Category:Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford
Category:Writers from the London Borough of Camden
Category:Writers from the City of Westminster