American fashion designer and industry icon Iris Apfel has died at the age of 102. The “geriatric starlet” was well-known and respected for her distinctive oversized glasses, chunky beads, cropped white hair, and bright lipstick. The fashion designer peaked on her fame journey in the 1980s and 90s. However, she was a familiar face for more than half a century at Parish fashion shows. She also had loads of celebrity clients including Greta Garbo and Estée Lauder.
Born in New York in 1921 to a Jewish family, the fashion icon originally studied the history of art and specialized in interior design. Then she started working as an interior designer and worked for decades. Her initial work included restoration projects at the White House. However, she became a trendsetter in her 80s and a professional model at the age of 97.
The first major retrospective of Apfel’s wardrobe was staged by New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2005. During this time, the designer admitted that she was most likely to pick up some interesting jewelry pieces in a Harlem junk shop such as Tiffany’s. What helped the artist’s work of fashion spread worldwide was Albert Maysles’s successful 2014 documentary “Iris”. Four years later her autobiography, “Iris Apfel: Accidental Icon” finally hit the bookshelves.
Iris was always an entrepreneur who had her own Barbie, made after her image. She also had a Home Shopping Network collection. She even went on to produce her makeup line in collaboration with MAC Cosmetics. As per Iris, the key to enjoying life was to never stop working. At a reception in her honor at the American Embassy, she proudly declared that she would continue to work in her life. “Try new things. Don’t let age and numbers frighten you. You have to find your own bliss, be as individual as you can, and don’t go with the herd,” she added.
Apfel was never the one who shies away from unconventional silhouettes or different colors. She also urged women, especially young women to ditch the modern “uniform of black tights or jeans with a sweater, boots and a leather bomber jacket.” instead she told the group of women to “dare to be different. Be yourselves, be individual.” “If you wear something and it doesn’t work, don’t worry, the style police are not going to arrest you,” she quipped.
Her agent Lori Sale confirmed the fashion superstar’s death in a statement to the PA news agency on Friday. “Iris Apfel was extraordinary, working alongside her was the honor of a lifetime,” she mentioned. “She was a visionary in every sense of the word. She saw the world through a unique lens – one adorned with giant, distinctive spectacles that sat atop her nose,” her statement read. “Through those lenses, she saw the world as a kaleidoscope of color, a canvas of patterns and prints.” “Her artistic eye transformed the mundane into the extraordinary and her ability to blend the unconventional with the elegant was nothing short of magical,” she said.
