Iris Apfel is the unlikely but unquestionably perfect new face of not one but two brands right now: Australian fashion label Blue Illusion and the new DS 3 car in the U.K. and France.
Why is a 94-year-old style icon suddenly such a hot property? Because Iris has more than style; she has a story. A story of standing out and standing up for whatever the heck she wants. She doesn't give a crap about your fashion rules. As one of the first women to wear jeans, and an interior designer at the White House for nine presidents, she went from New York style icon to worldwide fame after a 2005 exhibit of her accessories at The Met. Now, the Museum of Lifestyle and Fashion History is designing a whole building to house a dedicated gallery of her collection.
See how she shines as the face of Blue Illusions' AW16 campaign, titled "Ageless." Apfel is wearing her own accessories in the photos, and regales us with sage advice in the online videos. "You can have the most beautiful clothes in the world, but if you have no style—it's just stuff!" she exclaims before regaling us in the next video with the story of how she started the trend of women wearing "splendiferous" jeans.
Though it's obvious why a style icon would be the face of a fashion brand, Apfel's appeal is apparently enough to hop categories and make you believe a 94-year-old New Yorker is driving around town in a DS 3. The beautifully shot spot seeks to imbue the vehicle with the same kind of ballsy rule-breaking style that has ruled Apfel's long life.
Of course, all the papers, including this one, are excited by any 94-year-old spokesperson. But someday, the headlines won't even have to mention her age. Thanks to campaigns like this, we'll be free to talk about her style and not have to be told that style and beauty have no expiration date.