This section is about what inspires KOTUR, my friends, my family, my travels, and the women who support our brand. Right now, as you will see in our inspiration for the spring 2010 collection, Iris Apfel is someone I keep thinking about. As a style icon, she did everything with accessories. She is inventive, resourceful, creative, and mostly she is modern. She is about a mix, not about a designer’s look. She is about style, not about cost.
These are tough times, and when the going gets tough, the tough get chicer by being resourceful and imaginative.
Here are a few favorite Iris-isms that mean much to me, and I hope will to you, quotations from assorted conversations with Mrs. Apfel, including one in particular with the interviewer Marilyn Kirschner.
Most Famous Iris Apfel Quote: ‘I am the world’s oldest teenager.’
The Cost of Style: ‘Today with places like H & M and all the discount stores there really is no reason not to be well-dressed.’
On Being Fashionable: ‘Just being a clotheshorse is not my idea of heaven…I’m not a fashionista…I love beautiful clothes, and I appreciate them, but…’
Her First Job: Copy girl for Women’s Wear Daily.
The Family Business: With husband Carl, the prestigious textiles and materials company Old World Weavers.
Trademark Iris Apfel Look: Her ‘Traveling Ensemble,’ a three-piece outfit matching outfit of coat, boots, and an oversized bag made from an upholstery-style animal print.
An Iris Don’t: Flip-flops in the city. ‘Everybody looks like they are going to the shower.’
An Iris Do: Accessories. ‘I couldn’t live without any accessories…Very few people are buying couture anymore and designer clothing is really beyond many people…but almost everybody, with a little scrimping and saving, can have an accessory designer piece, so it could be a bag or a scarf, or a pair of eyeglasses, but there you are!
