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Fashion Icon Iris Apfel On Adding A Splash Of Colour When You Dress

Iris Apfel is an inspiration to us all. She knows more than most how to put the fun back into life and she’s been doing it for 97 years. Now, she’s helping us Aussies add a splash of colour into our lives as well by teaming up with Blue Illusion for their Spring 2019 season – along with Ckyka Keebaugh.

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The campaign “A Life in Colour” has been photographed in the New York home of the fashion icon. Iris is an impressive woman having founded a textile and design firm with her husband Carl, and can even boast being a stylist for nine US presidents’ wives.

Iris Apfel

She has a well known love for all things in colour and her huge colour palette seen in her legendary wardrobe is closely akin to her own personality and sense of style. “Let’s face it, life can be dull; you might as well have a little fun with colour when you dress,” says Iris. And we love her for it.

Fashion icons Iris Apfel and Ckyka Keebaugh

Chyka Keebaugh also appears in the new Blue Illusion campaign. They photographed the fashion brand’s new collection together in New-York. Iris was free to mix and match her favourite pieces with her own accessories. And you can only imagine what fun they had doing it.

As a personal fan of Blue Illusion, I love the fact that the brand promotes fashion freedom and gives a licence for their consumers to create their own unique looks. As Iris says when it comes to putting your wardrobe together, “you have to know yourself before you can find your own style”.

So get ready for Blue Illusion’s upcoming Bastille Day collection and the Midnight Jungle collection and exotic Into the Wild trans-seasonal collection. 

Take some inspiration from the fabulous Iris, who has made colour a true fabric of her life and says: “I’ve always said that the world is so grey – we need more colour than ever”. Indeed.

Robyn Foyster: Robyn Foyster is a multi-award-winning journalist, media executive, and the owner and publisher of The Carousel, alongside the Women Love Network (which includes Women Love Wellness, Women Love Travel, and Women Love Tech). At the forefront of digital lifestyle and tech publishing, Robyn was named the 2025 Winner of the Samsung IT Journalism Award for Best Corporate Content and is a 2026 Lizzies Finalist. Voted one of B&T’s 30 Most Powerful Women In Media, she previously served as the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Australia’s three biggest flagship magazines—The Australian Women’s Weekly, Woman’s Day, and New Idea—and was a senior executive at the Seven Network. A sought-after speaker and an eight-year judge for the Telstra Business Awards, Robyn remains dedicated to championing women's voices across lifestyle, wellness, and technology.