Iris Apfel comes across as alternately charming and, well, a bit of a pill in this new interview. The socialite tried to blow off her meeting with the Telegraph — which had been in the works for months, and for which a reporter had flown from London — at the last minute “because the weather is so disgusting.” (The interview was to take place indoors, at her home.) Apfel goes on to talk about how she turned down Lindsay Lohan when the starlet asked Apfel to be her “fashion Guru”, saying, “I can’t tell people how to have style. No amount of money can buy you style. It’s just instinctive. You can’t try to be somebody you’re not; that’s not style. If someone says, ‘Buy this, you’ll be stylish,’ you won’t be stylish because you won’t be you. You have to learn who you are first and that’s painful.” And about how she talked her way backstage to meet Duke Ellington as a young thing:
“I got all dressed up; I think I had more nerve than brains. I went backstage and knocked on the door and Ray Nance [Ellington’s trumpeter] came out and said, ‘Lordy, lordy, who’s your tailor?’ I explained my mission and he said he was sure the Duke would see me. The Duke couldn’t have been nicer and said he’d introduce me to all the greats in Chicago. My mother was very dubious, so I told her, ‘He’s the most elegant gentleman.’ She said, ‘I don’t give a damn how elegant he is, you’re not going to Chicago.’ But I did.”
But, well, there’s this:
“Now when I walk down Fifth Avenue in the summertime I just want to throw up. It seems that the fatter and uglier people are, the fewer clothes they wear. The shorts and flip-flops and tight jeans on butts that go from here to Poughkeepsie. I always say they should put people in jail for wearing clothes like that. Especially stretch jeans over size 10 — they should be outlawed. Ten years ago people were starting to look like slobs in New York, now it’s an epidemic.”
Regardless, Apfel would never say anything to someone she thought was poorly dressed. “Oh, now that would be horrible. It’s a free country — if you want to look like a freak, that’s your problem.” Talking about it in a widely read newspaper on the other hand is all above-board! Apfel is elderly. When asked about London street style, for example, the noted jewelry fan launches into some stuff about “the wonderful eccentrics like the kids on Carnaby Street or the punks or whatever the heck they are,” which rather suggests that she hasn’t been to London in a very, very long time. [Telegraph]
Beyoncé hung out at Terry Richardson‘s studio, then put on his glasses. [Terry’s Diary]
This, astonishingly, is Naomi Campbell on the cover of a magazine called Soon. [DS]
- Karl Lagerfeld is relaunching his namesake line, which he stopped showing in 2009. Lagerfeld is also splitting the brand into two: Karl will be a women’s line priced at $95-$450, while the new line Karl Lagerfeld Paris will be pricier. The recently installed company president also insists Karl Lagerfeld is going to stop doing so very many collaborations (such as the Karl Lagerfeld pen and the Karl Lagerfeld wine bottle and the Karl Lagerfeld Diet Coke ad and the Karl Lagerfeld teddy bear, the mere existence of which makes our blogging day so regularly). [WWD]
- Celebrity stylist June Ambrose — who says she introduced J.Lo to Puffy — was profiled in this week’s Times Styles section. Her reality show, Styled by June, will debut on VH1 in February. [NYTimes]
- Paula Patton is now a face of CoverGirl. But only on the Internet: she’s not fronting a traditional campaign, she’s the brand’s ambassador to Twitter and Facebook. [People]
- Uniqlo opened its second-largest store in the world, and its third in the U.S., on West 34th Street in Manhattan Friday. More than 30,000 people passed through the clothing chain’s biggest store, the Fifth Avenue behemoth, on its opening weekend last week. [WWD]
- Even as couture continues to decline, prices for certain items in some ready-to-wear collections are rising. And people are paying: Mary Katrantzou sold 18 of her “Jewel Tree” dress at $14,300 a pop, and Matthew Williamson says 6% of his business is now in the over $5k category. As the company president explains, “To put that into context, two years ago we sold nothing at that price.” In case you hadn’t noticed, rich people: Still rich. [WWD]
- Tavi Gevinson got impersonated on that HBO show called How To Make It In America. The name of the blue-haired, glasses-wearing teenaged blogger character in question? Tavi. Just in case you were in any doubt. [The Cut]
- Louis Vuitton is planning to launch a perfume. [WWD]
- Kelly Bensimon is launching a line of ballet flats. [E!]
- According to a “source,” Victoria Beckham‘s fashion line is doing well: in the quarter just ended, sales rose 71% over the same period last year, and total revenue hit $24 million. [Daily Mail]
- And now, a moment with Vivienne Westwood. The designer just opened her third store in China:
- “I actually don’t know that much [about China],” Westwood said. “I have never really taken that much interest.”
- [WWD]