Large round glasses, eye-catching bracelets and necklaces, colorful outfits – this is how Iris Apfel became known as a fashion icon. Now the New York native has died at the age of 102.
2.9 million followers on Instagram
The day before she had posted an entry on the platform, where she is followed by 2.9 million people. Until recently, she was also a regular guest at fashion shows, to which she appeared in a wheelchair.
Born in 1921 into a Jewish family in the New York borough of Queens, Apfel first studied art history and then worked as an interior decorator. Among other things, she was involved in the interior design of the White House for nine US presidents.
With her husband Carl, whom she married in 1948, she worked as a team designer. Apfel’s customers included cosmetics entrepreneur Estée Lauder and actress Greta Garbo.
“Dare to be different”
The diva only had her breakthrough as a style icon when she was over 80 years old. She came into the spotlight in 2005 with a successful exhibition of her fashion and jewelry collection at New York’s Metropolitan Museum. Even after her husband’s death in 2015, she continued to work well into old age, designing a collection of glasses together with a manufacturer and working with a US hardware store chain on designs for room decorations.
She also worked with major companies such as H&M and appeared in an advertising campaign for the car brand Citroën. The filmmaker Albert Maysles created a memorial to her in 2014 with the documentary “Iris.”
Apfel always encouraged women to dress unusually and not to follow a one-size-fits-all look. “Dare to be different. Be yourself, be individual,” she once said. “If you wear something and it doesn’t suit you, don’t worry. The style police won’t arrest you.”