Iris Apfel on style: take a chance - why look like everyone else, says fashion’s grande dame on first visit to Hong Kong

When the door to Iris Apfel’s suite at Hong Kong’s Landmark Mandarin Oriental opens, the small foyer reveals two racks of clothing, mostly jackets – ranging from a cowboy number with fringes, to a vivid, striped coat, an elaborately embroidered navy blue one – and a rainbow of shawls.

Now 95 years old, the fashion icon may have some trouble standing for a long time, and be a bit hard of hearing, but she still fires off one-liners and funny anecdotes from a storied career in interior design, textiles, fashion and accessories.

The feisty New Yorker is in Hong Kong for the first time at the invitation of the Landmark to take part in the luxury shopping complex’s “A Year of Wisdom” campaign, for which she repeats some of her mantras: “More is more, and less is a bore”, “When you don’t dress like everyone else, you don’t have to think like everyone else”, and “Lots of people age, but they don’t grow”.

Apfel is known for her zany outfits and accessories, but her look is decidedly toned down – perhaps to match the overcast sky: grey velvet jacket, turtleneck sweater and trousers. Dashing any notions of solemnity, though, are a large crescent moon with a smiling face hung by several strands of ceramic beads around her neck, and numerous chunky bracelets that made clacking noises when she moves her arms. And those signature huge, owlish, black-rimmed glasses.

Apfel’s schedule is packed – a talk to an audience of several hundred in the Landmark Atrium, sharing ideas with young Hong Kong designers, media interviews, and meals at China Tang and Sevva. But the nonagenarian is most keen to scavenge through Hong Kong’s markets.

“We went to the Jade Market, but they were already closing when we got there on a Saturday night,” she says, disappointed, although she did manage to see Temple Street Market and Sham Shui Po.