Interior designer and fashion celebrity Iris Apfel, known for her eccentric style, passed away at the age of 102.
His death was confirmed by Apfel’s business representative, Lori Sale, who called him “phenomenal.” According to the Associated Press, the cause of death was not stated.
It was also announced on her verified Instagram page on Friday, a day earlier, that Leap Day represents her 102nd and a half birthday.
Apfel specialized in textiles and antique fabrics. She and her husband, Carl, owned a textile manufacturing company called Old World Weavers and specialized in restoration work, including projects on the White House under six different U.S. presidents. Apfel’s famous clients included Estee Lauder and Greta Garbo.
Apfel’s fame grew further in 2005, when the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City hosted a show about her called Rara Avis, Latin for “rare bird.” The museum described his style as “both humorous and exuberantly idiosyncratic.”
“His originality typically comes through in his mixing of high and low fashion – Dior haute couture with flea market finds, 19th-century religious vestments with Dolce & Gabbana lizard trousers”.
His agent, Ms Sale, said in a statement: “It was the honor of a lifetime to work with him. I will miss his daily calls, which were always met with the familiar question: ‘What do you have for me today?’
“He was a visionary in every sense of the word. He saw the world through a unique lens; with a lens adorned with giant, distinctive glasses that sit atop his nose.”
Born on August 29, 1921, Apfel was famous for mixing irreverent, glamorous clothing, haute couture and oversized jewelry. A classic Apfel look might pair a feather boa, for example, with a jacket adorned with chunky beads, bracelets, and Native American beadwork.
She attracted attention at every fashion show she attended with her large, round, black-framed glasses, bright red lipstick and short white hair.
His style has been the subject of museum exhibitions and the documentary film Iris, directed by Albert Maysles.
“I’m not beautiful and I’ll never be beautiful, but that doesn’t matter,” she once said. “There’s something much better about me. I have a style.”
Apfel rose to fame on social media later in life, amassing nearly three million followers on Instagram, declaring on her profile: “More is more and less is boring.” She’s gained 215,000 followers on TikTok by dishing out fashion and style wisdom and promoting her latest collaborations.
“Being stylish and being trendy are two completely different things,” she said in a TikTok video. “You can easily buy your way into being fashionable. Style, I guess, is in your DNA. It implies originality and courage.”
He never retired, telling US TV show Today: “I think retiring at any age is a fate worse than death. Just because a number comes up doesn’t mean you should stop.”
The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, was one of several museums in the United States to host a traveling version of the NY Met show. Apfel then decided to donate hundreds of pieces to Peabody — including couture dresses — to help them create what she called “an amazing fashion collection.” The Fashion and Lifestyle Museum, near Apfel’s winter home in Palm Beach, Florida, is also planning a gallery that will display items from the Apfel collection.
Her fame in later years came from appearing in advertisements for brands such as MAC cosmetics and Kate Spade. She also designed a line of accessories and jewelry for the Home Shopping Network, collaborated with H&M on a collection of brightly colored clothing, jewelry and shoes that sold out in minutes, and launched a makeup line with Ciaté London, including an eyewear collection. Zenni and partnered with Ruggable on flooring.
In a 2017 interview with the Associated Press, at the age of 95, he said his favorite contemporary designers include Ralph Rucci, Isabel Toledo and Naeem Khan, but added: “I have so much, I don’t go looking.”
When asked for fashion advice, she said: “Everyone should find their own way. I’m great at individuality. I don’t like trends. If you learn who you are, what you are like, and what you can handle, you will know what to do.
She called herself an “accidental icon,” which became the title of a book filled with her memories and style musings that she published in 2018. There are many tributes to Apfel, from a Barbie in her likeness to T-shirts, glasses, artwork and dolls.
Apfel was born in New York to Samuel and Sadye Barrel. His mother owned a boutique. Apfel’s husband died in 2015. They had no children.