Fashion Brand Hires 94-Year-Old Model To Front Campaign
Style guru Iris Apfel fronts ‘Ageless’ campaign for fashion brand, Blue Illusion [Photo: Instagram/blue.illusion]
Dressed in an on-trend belted denim mac accessorised with an oversized statement necklace, thick-rimmed hipster glasses and a slick of bright red lipstick, Iris Apfel looks straight into the camera and pulls a fierce pose. So far, so normal for a fashion photoshoot. But the latest model to front the campaign for Australian clothing line, Blue Illusion, is not your average model. Having designed her own accessory line, had an entire documentary dedicated to her personal style, and been taken to New York’s heart as one of their biggest fashion icons, Iris is now the busiest campaign model of the spring season, yep busier even than girl-of-the-moment Gigi Hadid. Oh and did we mention she’s 94-years-old?
You’d think that nearly halfway through her ninth decade, Iris might be thinking of slowing things down and putting her feet up, but when Blue Illusion came a knocking to front their ‘Ageless’ AW 16 campaign, Iris couldn’t resist slipping in front of the camera once more.
Hope we can still rock leather trousers when we hit 94! [Photo: Blue Illusion]
The timeless tastemaker who’s had successful careers as an interior designer and businesswomen, first became a style icon following an exhibition of her out-there costume jewellery at The Costume Institute in 2005. The self-titled documentary followed as did covers for Dazed & Confused, ad campaigns for make up brands like MAC and Kate Spade New York and a bucketload of fashion followers.
Shot in her amazing New York apartment, the fashion icon is not only starring in the ‘Ageless’ campaign, she also helped style the shoot and accessorised the series with her own jewellery.
Iris credits her years of accessorising know-how to one person: “My mother worshiped at the altar of the accessory and she taught me that they were extremely transformative,” she told PeopleStyle. “You could have one basic black dress and if you had a group of accessories and you had some creativity, you could make 20 outfits. Change them around. And I learned a lot from that.”
Proving there’s no age limit to fashion [Photo: Blue Illusion]
Co-founder of Blue Illusion Donna Guest told Mumbrella that Iris was the perfect ambassador for the company’s Ageless campaign.
‘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,’ Donna said. 'Her confidence is equally empowering, as it is elegant.’
Speaking about her reasons for taking on the campaign, Iris said she agreed to work with Blue Illusion because she liked the brand’s classic design style.
'I like the clothes because they’re very basic,’ she told Women’s Wear Daily. 'They’re well priced. They’re very well designed. Good fabrics, good fits.’
Parrot - models own. [Photo: Blue Illusion]
The campaign will also see Iris star in a series of three videos, speaking on accessories, timeless style and her own belief that women are never too old for fashion.
'I don’t think style has any age. It’s in your DNA and inherent. It’s a matter of attitude,’ she said.
#careergoals
What do you think of the campaign? Let us know @YahooStyleUK.
