THE AUNTIE MAME OF ACCESSORIES
I could not launch my new web site without paying homage to my favorite fashion icon Iris Apfel the inimitable fashion innovator and doyenne of ethnic embellishment. She is my Auntie Mame of individualist style. Her multicultural approach and maximalist style with its bold layering has inspired my approach to design since I first met her at the New York Gift Fair back in 2008 after her hugely successful show at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. I had no idea at the time who she was but she was certainly somebody as she asked for a seat in my booth and politely asked me to show her my best pieces which she bought in multiples of course which is her way to make bold statements. I was later told who she was as there was a big buzz at the show that she was present and rather famous.
She is a New York socialite and fashion legend, a magnetic and now reinvented and refound icon of a business woman who has at 90 begun new commercial venues for her rich style with an accessories collection, a ready to wear collection AND a collection of makeup with MAC. She is such an inspiration as who could imagine they could be reinvented at 90!
She is known for her eclectic and eccentric fashion sense and of course a whopping big pair of eyeglasses as her signature statement. We all need a signature statement! Her book: A Rare Bird Of Fashion, The Irreverent Iris Apfel is a most amazing display of some of her outfits richly embellished with her collection of accessories from her travels around the world. ‘World Travel’ should be capitalized, as we all know it creates and inspires our visions of the possible. Multiculturalism
This is who we are now.
You have to see how she puts herself together as words do not do justice to her unique style. 
Her combination of style and raw wit and an unwillingness to conform to conventional concepts of fashion is an inspiration to us all. It’s about being yourself at your best and most alive.
QUOTES:
“All women over a certain age should cover up, no matter what a jock you are-arms are awful. Designers are terrible on that. If I had the time, I’d open a shop on Madison Ave called ‘Sleeves’.”
“I don’t do minimal.” “I was born with a Souk Sense”
“I think dressing up or down should be a creative experience. Exciting. Fun. For me the key to personal style lies in accessories. I love objects from different worlds, different eras, combined my way. Never uptight, achieving-hopefully-a kind of throwaway chic”-Iris Apfel
‘So wear my bracelets in multiples for the dramatic layered effect, you can’t go wrong if you do it with confidence and a bold sense of remembered place, color, scent and textures. The Bohemians did it..so can you. Travel, it makes you wise..
Kim Erixon
- Iris Apfel Rare Bird of Fashion