RIP Iris Apfel (August 29, 1921 - March 1, 2024)

The age of Iris Apfel by Karley Sciortino (originally published on November 5, 2012)

In a culture that fetishises youth, Apfel has become an unlikely idol, inspiring younger generations with an immutable confidence and a witty, more-is-more style. In 2005, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC premiered Rara Avis (Rare Bird): The Irreverent Iris Apfel, an exhibition of her clothing that celebrated her flair for mixing haute couture, flea-market finds, furs and tribal trimmings. The show, which was the Met’s first exhibition about a living woman who is not a designer, brought in over 150,000 visitors, and went on to travel to numerous cities around the globe. As the New York Times art critic Roberta Smith put it, “Before multiculturalism was a word, Mrs Apfel was wearing it.”

Obituary in Vogue, Design Doyenne Iris Apfel Has Died at 102 by Ellen Burney

If you haven’t seen it yet, do watch Iris by Albert Maysles from 2014, it’s lovely.

Images: Stills from Iris (Albert Maysles, 2014)