Accidental Icon – Living in New York, this female cultural influencer, fashion icon, model and professor (to name a few), also known as Accidental Icon (@iconaccidental), is the coolest woman you have met so far. Sophisticated, casual and smart at the same time. With more than 500K followers on Instagram, we can say she has reached the top. Who is the stylish woman behind this successful blog? Let’s get to know Lyn Slater.
Cover photo: © Kris Atomic
Accidental Icon
“Not your average professor” probably describes Accidental Icon a.k.a. Lyn Slater (1953) best. Slater has always been this kind of a rebel – at young age she decorated her school’s uniform with medals of saints and other religious figures, something the teachers could forbid her. She wasn’t allowed to wear jewellery, so the religious medals were the only way to personalize her appearance.
Her passion for fashion and rebellious mind set did not stop there. The start of her career was striking: she ran a residential community for young, law breaking girls in a posh New York City neighbourhood. Later, she became a professor. She once said that her interest of criminal justice came from the feeling of being put in a box. It just never appealed to her and she felt distant from the leading thought about how girls and women should behave and be treated.
From professor to fashion icon
Despite being a social welfare professor at Forham University, Accidental Icon felt she wanted to deepen her knowledge and skills concerning fashion, an interest she had since childhood. She came immediate to action and followed several courses at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), just for fun. Her teachers and classmates almost begged her to start a blog, and so she did (which we are very grateful for).
By accident
Accidental Icon was actually created ‘by accident’ when Slater was just at the right place at the right time during New York Fashion Week in 2014, when having lunch with a friend. While wearing a Yohji Yamamoto suit, combined with a perfect Chanel bag, she caught eye of several fashion photographers. Since then, she has always felt as an accidental icon and her blog was born.
#AgeIsNotAVariable
The goal of Slater is just to make fashion available for everyone, because it is fun and not tied to age, gender or other restrictive aspects people often think it is. With her signature hashtag #AgeIsNotaVariable she emphasizes this statement. Please go and see it for yourself. Take a look at her Instagram feed or her website and you know why we are convinced (and addicted).
Got inspired by this lady? Read our articles about Jan de Villeneuve and Iris Apfel as well and let them teach you the true meaning of style.
