Iris Apfel, influential fashion icon, dies at 102
“You have to be original, but not original to the point where you’re nutsy,” Apfel famously stated while discussing style and fashion.
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Friday, at the age of 102, Iris Apfel, the renowned interior decorator and fashion icon who had a hand in restoring the White House for nine presidents, passed away.Lori Sale, a talent agent, verified the news of her passing. Apfel passed away in her Palm Beach home, according to her.
Along with a photo of an exquisitely dressed Apfel, the Instagram account also included the words “August 29, 1921—March 1, 2024.”
In an interview, she slammed shredded denim as “insanity” and said, “Athletic wear should be worn at the gym.” She went on to attack people who wore athletic gear for everyday activities.
Those who are stylish, she observed, are both expressive and self-aware.
Apfel became a late-in-life fashion celebrity, or a “geriatric starlet,” thanks to her personality and work drive as well as her unusual style, which included a plethora of necklaces and bracelets as well as her famous saucer-sized, heavy-framed spectacles.
“You have to be original, but not original to the point where you’re nutsy,” remarked Apfel. You can’t just follow the crowd; you need to be genuine and secure in who you are. You must be willing to take some chances.
On August 29, 1921, in the city of Astoria, Queens, Apfel came into this world.
Her fascination with her grandmother’s discarded fabric scraps began when she was a little girl. “What I saw made my eyes pop: a gigantic bunch of little fabric remnants in all sorts of colors and patterns,” she said in her 2018 memoir, “Iris Apfel: Accidental Icon.”
Her bio from HarperCollins states that in 1950, Apfel and her husband Carl founded Old World Weavers, an international textile production company, which is how she got her start in the fashion industry through cloth.
Late in 2015, at the age of 100, Carl passed away.
The White House reportedly showcased clothing that Apfel designed in the Gold Room, thanks to her meticulous attention to detail, which led to collaborations with several brands and designers.
As stated on the cover of “Accidental Icon,” Apfel was involved in the styling of several celebrities, including Joan Rivers, Montgomery Clift, Estee Lauder, and Greta Garbo.
Apparently, HarperCollins made history in 2005 when she became the first individual who wasn’t a fashion designer to have a show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. Her apparel and accessories were showcased.
According to the Jewish Women’s Archive, Apfel became known as “the geriatric starlet” during this period.
One of her IMDB listings is for her appearances in the 2014 documentary “Iris,” and another is for her presence in the 2010 documentary “Bill Cunningham: New York,” which is about the fashion photographer.
During the same year that she dropped “Accidental Icon,” Mattel unveiled not one but two Barbie dolls designed by Iris Apfel. In releasing information on the line, the corporation said that Apfel was the “oldest living teenager.”
According to IMDB, Apfel continued her career as a model in 2019 when she secured a deal with the IMG agency at the age of 97. Kate Spade and M.A.C. Cosmetics were among her other featured clients.
Lorie Sale, the designer’s agency, referred to her as a “visionary.”
The world appeared different to her because of the enormous, unusual spectacles perched atop her nose. When she looked at the world through those spectacles, she perceived it as a multi-colored, pattern- and print-filled canvas. In a statement, she gushed about how her artistic vision could elevate the ordinary to the miraculous and how she effortlessly combined the unexpected with the exquisite.
“She became a beacon for so many people,” said jewelry designer Alexis Bittar in a statement that Sale posted. “Through living her life on her own terms, she messaged to women that they don’t need to hide in the shadows as they age; they can actually continue to glow and get better at what they do and look like.”
