Personal Collection: Iris Apfel x Yoox.com. Image courtesy Yoox.com
“As a child I watched every day as my very chic ‘maman’ worshipped at the altar of the Accessory. Like a shaman stylist, she worked her magic, transforming her workaday black dress into a smashing cocktail outfit. Her talismans were shoes and scarves, bags and belts, but most important was her costume jewelry collection…her bits and baubles, bangles and beads. Slowly I began to appreciate their powers of transformation, their ability to evoke a mood and express an individual personality, to make a statement about the wearer.”
That Iris Apfel quote will probably stay with me for life. There is a magic about those words. It is something about her unadulterated love of accessories (no doubt passed on from her Mother) and her perspective on the power that they hold.
If there is anyone who understands that accessories make or break an outfit, it would be 90year old Apfel. Her maximalist multi-global style has been well documented both in the print and online. She holds court on street style sites and columns. Case in point would be the legendary Bill Cunningham who has photographed her time after time for his column.
Her style has been celebrated with a 2005 retrospective exhibition (at the Metropolitan Museum of Art) and via 2007 book, Rare Bird of Fashion The Irreverent Iris Apfel by Eric Boman.
It was only time till she lent her creative vision to collections. The first was for HSN and this has been followed with a collection for Yoox.com.
The Iris Apfel collection for Yoox.com. is sub-divided into three categories; A ready to wear, limited edition and personal (featuring exclusive pieces from Apfel’s personal collection).
More on Iris Apfel for Yoox.com here.
