Our latest blog celebrates our great muse and collaborator Iris Apfel, who would have celebrated her 103 birthday this week.
We remember her inspiring life and the unforgettable campaigns we created together with awe and gratitude.
“Fashion you can buy, but style you must
possess.” - Iris Apfel
Iris’s eclectic and enchanting taste solidified her as a legend in the New York fashion scene. She later rose to international celebrity at 84 after the Metropolitan Museum of Art featured a collection of her clothes in their acclaimed exhibition titled Rara Avis,
meaning ‘rare bird’ in 2005.
The daughter of a fashion boutique owner, Iris’s keen design sense was honed over the many years that she ran Old World Weavers, a textile firm that she founded with her husband, Carl Apfel. The couple specialized in reproduction of antique fabrics and spearheaded many high-profile restoration projects, including renovations of the White House for nine different US presidents.
Although Iris was born and raised in New York City, Blue Illusion co-founder and CEO Donna Guest detected an undeniably French essence in the way Iris elevated classic bases with a range of provocative accessories, always paying sharp attention to her use of colour. In 2016, our first collaboration, Ageless, was born.
“Her confidence is as equally empowering, as it is elegant.” - Donna Guest
Donna said the 94-year-old model (at the time) was the perfect fit for the collection. “Iris makes it a non-issue (as it should be) to embrace your age, she has this ‘what’s your number?’ attitude, where the higher the (number the) better.”
It was love at first campaign. According to Iris, Blue Illusion’s clothes were a perfect timeless canvas to express her unique style, well-made and ageless pieces that she could easily picture someone her age or 60-years her junior wearing.
We continued to collaborate on many more campaigns, including A Life in Colour with Chyka Keebaugh that we shot at Iris’s sensational New York apartment filled with breathtaking antiques. Reminiscing on the experience Chyka says, “I’ve always loved Iris, I’ve always thought she’s an utter legend, and to have the day with her shooting that campaign in her amazing apartment, it’s still one of the best experiences.”
A Life in Colour was shot by top fashion photographer Daniela Federici, who also joyfully described the experience in an interview with us last year. “People think she’s just a fashion icon, but she was a force to be reckoned with creatively in her own right. She was really well travelled and ahead of her time.”
Merci beaucoup, Iris, for the years of love, laughter, and impeccable style.
