by Iris Apfel, the interior designer and fashion celebrity known for her eccentric style, has died aged 102.
Her commercial agent, Lori Sale, confirmed her death, which Apfel called “extraordinary.” No cause of death was given, the Associated Press reported.
It was also announced on his verified Instagram page on Friday, which he celebrated a day earlier that Leap Day is his 102nd and a half birthday.
Apfel was an expert on antique textiles and fabrics. She and her husband Carl owned a textile manufacturing company, Old World Weavers, and specialized in restoration work, including projects at the White House under six different US presidents. Apfel’s famous clients included Estee Lauder and Greta Garbo.
Apfel’s own reputation rose in 2005 when the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York City hosted a show called Rara Avis, Latin for “rare bird.” The museum described his style as “both funny and singularly exaggerated”.
“Her originality is usually revealed when she mixes high and low fashions – Dior haute couture with flea market finds, 19th-century ecclesiastical uniforms with Dolce & Gabbana lizard trousers,” he said.
Her agent Ms Sale said in a statement: “It has been an honor to work with her for a lifetime. I will miss her daily calls, always greeting me with the familiar question: ‘What do you have for me today?’
“She was a visionary in every sense of the word. She saw the world through a unique lens – one adorned with huge, distinctive glasses that sat atop her nose.”
Born on August 29, 1921, Apfel was known for his mismatched, eye-catching outfits, mixing haute couture and oversized costume jewellery. A classic Apfel look would be put together with, for example, a feather boa with strands of subtle beads, bangles and a jacket decorated with Native American beads.
With her big, round, black-rimmed glasses, bright red lipstick and short white hair, she stood out at every fashion show she attended.
Her style was the subject of an exhibition at a museum and a documentary film, Iris, directed by Albert Maysles.
“I’m not beautiful, and I’ll never be beautiful, but it doesn’t matter,” she once said. “I have something much better. I have style.”
Apfel has risen to social media fame of late, amassing nearly three million followers on Instagram, where her profile declares: “More is more and less is less.” On TikTok, she has attracted 215,000 followers as she waxes fashion and style wise and promotes recent collaborations.
“Being stylish and being fashionable are two completely different things,” she said in one TikTok video. “You can easily buy your way to being fashionable. Style, I think is in your DNA. It means originality and courage.”
She never quit, telling US TV show Today: “I think quitting at any age is a fate worse than death. Just because a number comes up doesn’t mean you have to stop.”
The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, was one of several museums across the United States that hosted a traveling version of the NY Met show. Apfel later decided to donate hundreds of pieces to the Peabody – including couture gowns – to help them build a “fantastic fashion collection”. The Fashion & Lifestyle Museum plans a gallery near Apfel’s winter home in Palm Beach, Florida, dedicated to displaying items from Apfel’s collection.
She rose to fame in later years appearing in advertisements for brands such as MAC cosmetics and Kate Spade. She has also designed an accessories and jewelery line for Home Shopping Network, collaborated with H&M on a sell-out collection of brightly colored clothing, jewelery and shoes, launched a make-up line with Ciaté London, an eyewear collection with Zenni and partnered with Ruggable on floor coverings.
In an interview with the Associated Press in 2017 at the age of 95, she said that Ralph Rucci, Isabel Toledo and Naeem Khan were among her favorite contemporary designers, but added: “I have so many, I don’t look.”
Asked for her fashion advice, she said: “Everyone should find their own way. I am a great person for individuality. I don’t like trends. If you find out who you are and what you look like and what you can handle, you’ll know what to do.”
She called herself the “accidental icon”, which became the title of books she published in 2018 filled with her mementos and style ideas. Odes to Apfel abound, from Barbie look-alikes to T-shirts, glasses, artwork and dolls.
Apfel was born in New York City to Samuel and Sadye Barrel. Her mother owned a shop. Apfel’s husband died in 2015. They had no children.
