There's no doubt about it; Iris Apfel is quite the style icon. Aside from her jewellery, eyewear and make-up collection for MAC, Apfel recently donated 600 items from her wardrobe to showcase in an exhibition in her honour and during this year's Met Gala, industry figures like Jenna Lyons said that she would be the perfect person to take the reigns at Schiapparelli.
While the latter remains very unlikely, what we do know it that that much anticipated documentary is complete and about to launch. Last week the trailer dropped and if you were not already excited about it, you definitely will after watching it. Anyone that's followed her over the years will know that, like Karl Lagerfeld, she does give a good one liner so expect lots of those along with special cameos from Bruce Weber and Duro Oluwu and an interesting glimpse into her home and relationship with husband Carl Apfel.
Last week Clarins announced that they've decided to jump on the digital wave by launching their own beauty blog and now L’Oréal Paris are doing the same. Instead of going down the blog route, though, today they confirmed that will soon launch a series of YouTube videos called 'Hairspray Confessions'.
According to WWD, the idea behind the videos is to celebrate the brand's signature Elnett Satin Hairspray and so far they've tapped everyone from Coco Rocha to Iris Apfel to appear in some behind-the-scenes confessionals. At the moment the format of the videos is still unclear but what we do know is that the project is part of a five-part series and will be hosted by Derek Blasberg and will start rolling out next month.
If you put something on and it doesn’t look good, the fashion police aren’t going to come and take you away. And if they do, you might have some fun in jail.
”She said a discussion at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Much to her amusement, there's been a revival of interest in Iris Apfel's style over the past year or so.'I think it's funny, because I'm not doing anyting differently than I did 70 years ago,' she told The Cut recently. 'Now all of a sudden I'm an icon, so I guess that's pretty good.' Now the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, is tapping into that by creating an exhibition in her honour.
Apfel donated 600 items from her personal wardrobe for the exhibition including pieces from Lanvin and Alexander McQueen as well as special flea market pieces that she's picked up over the years. The collection will also feature some of the statement eye wear that she's become known for, as well as art pieces.
As make-up brands go, it doesn't get much better than MAC. Their colour selections are second to none and over the years they've worked on several successful and highly anticipated collaborations with everyone from Iris Apfel to their upcoming partnership with Carine Roitfeld. The only area they haven't explored extensively is their nail colours, as their permanent collection only features eight colours but that's all about to change.
Tapping into the current interest in nail colours and nail art, the brand is preparing to launch a collection of 30 permanent colours. Some you will recognise from past collaborations and from the old permanent collection but many of the shades are new and come in three finishes - pearl, frost and cream.
Each colour is priced at $16 each and will be available first at Nordstrom on July 5 and then online on August 2.
Ever since it was announced that Schiaparelli will make a comeback, the rumour mill has been full of speculation about who will take the big creative director's job. The majority of people, like me, were desperate to see John Galliano join the brand as a part of a big comeback but Stefano Tonchi quashed the reports at the Met Gala last week. Jenna Lyons has a different idea.
This week the J. Crew president told the New York Post that she thinks Iris Apfel would be ideal for the role. 'She's so full of life, and she's got an incredible attitude,' she said. 'I don't think she'd want to, but I think she would be amazing.'
I used to go every year, but it’s not affordable anymore. It’s totally corporate now. Oh, it’s not the same. They used to be really beautiful and fun. Now the corporations buy tables, because who can afford such a ticket? John Barrett did my hair today and said that the tickets now are $25,000 a pop. I mean, that’s a little bit insane. I’m happy for the reason that the recipient is the Costume Institute, which I’m very involved with, and I like to see them get money. But otherwise, I think it’s sort of sad.
M.A.C are the masters of collaborations. Over the past year they've worked with everyone from Iris Apfel to Beth Ditto and yesterday the brand announced that they have a new collection in the works inspired by Marilyn Monroe.
The 30 piece limited edition collection will include everything from eyeliners to nail polishes and naturally, a selection of lipsticks too. While they are keeping quiet about the details, M.A.C have confirmed that the collection will be priced at an accessible $15 to $27 and will hit stores in October.
Who would have thought that such a small broach could cause so much controversy? The toucan broach by Iris Apfel was recently criticised for being a complete copy of a piece by French designer Hannah Bernhard. Although a spokesperson for Apfel explained that the design was "simply intended to share her interpretations of some of her vintage jewelry pieces," this did little to quash the controversy about the uncanny resemblance.
Bernhard posted an image of the original piece on her blog and wrote: "IRIS HAS COPIED ONE OF OUR PIECES! She has purchased a toucan head pin from one of our customers several years ago in Palm Beach FL.....Of course I have to talk to HSN people," she explained. "I tried yesterday but could just get in touch with their customer service for orders. Also talked to Iris who could just wonder how my customer knew about it, telling me that she didn't buy the pin from me, and 'what we should do about it'! She was supposed to call back: I am still waiting!
Apfel has responded by removing the piece for her Rara Avis collection for HSN, which is set to go on sale come September.
