Iris Apfel

Iris Apfel was an American businesswoman, interior designer, and fashion icon who became internationally celebrated late in life for her distinctive personal style, characterised by bold accessories, layered jewellery, and oversized round eyeglasses. She remained a prominent and active figure in fashion well into her nineties and beyond, embraced as a symbol of individuality and creativity at an advanced age.

Early life

Apfel was born in Astoria, in the Queens borough of New York City. She developed an early interest in clothing, textiles, and design, and pursued these interests through her education and early career. With her husband, Carl Apfel, she built a life centred on design and a shared passion for collecting fashion and textiles from around the world, an enthusiasm for distinctive objects and garments that would later define her public image.

Career

Apfel co-founded the textile company Old World Weavers with her husband, a firm that specialised in reproducing antique and historic fabrics. Through the business, she undertook design and restoration work and travelled extensively to source materials, building expertise in textiles that included work associated with prestigious interiors. The company established her professional reputation in the design world long before she became a public fashion figure, and her decades of collecting fashion during this period formed the basis of the wardrobe that would later make her famous.

Her public profile rose dramatically with the 2005 exhibition "Rara Avis: Selections from the Iris Apfel Collection" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, which showcased her personal wardrobe and accessories. The exhibition introduced her flamboyant, eclectic style to a wide audience and transformed her into a celebrated style icon, drawing acclaim for the way she mixed haute couture with flea-market finds and bold costume jewellery.

Later life and legacy

Following the exhibition, Apfel became a sought-after figure in fashion, appearing in advertising campaigns, collaborating on product lines, and being the subject of the documentary "Iris," directed by Albert Maysles. She was embraced as a symbol of individuality and ageless creativity, frequently cited for her philosophy that personal style is a form of self-expression rather than a matter of following trends. She continued to take on projects and public appearances into advanced age, becoming one of the oldest figures to be signed by a modelling agency and remaining a fixture at fashion events. Iris Apfel died in 2024 at the age of 102. She is remembered as a singular personality in fashion whose late-career fame made her an enduring emblem of bold, exuberant style and of the idea that creativity has no age limit.