NEW YORK — Iris Apfel, the textile expert, interior designer and fashion icon known for her eccentric style, has died at the age of 102.
Apfel’s death was confirmed by her commercial agent, Lori Sale, who called her an “extraordinary” person. No cause of death was released. The news was also announced on her official Instagram page on Friday, after the page had celebrated Apfel’s 102-and-a-half birthday on Leap Day the previous day.
Born August 29, 1921, Apfel was known for her bold, eye-catching outfits that combined haute couture with oversized costume jewelry — a typical Apfel look, for example, would pair a feather boa with a jacket adorned with chunky beaded strings, bangles, and Native American beadwork.
With her large round black-rimmed glasses, bright red lipstick and short white hair, she stood out at every fashion show she attended.
Her style has been the subject of museum exhibits and the Albert Maysles documentary film Iris.
“I’m not beautiful, and I never will be, but that doesn’t matter,” she once said. “I have something better. I have style.”
Apfel rose to fame later in life through social media, garnering nearly 3 million followers on Instagram — her profile reads “more is better, less is boring” — and on TikTok, where she has 215,000 followers where she writes incisive musings on fashion and style and promotes her latest collaborations.
“Being stylish and being fashionable are two completely different things,” she said in a TikTok video. “Being fashionable is something you can easily afford. I think style is in your DNA. It means originality and courage.”
She never retired, telling Today magazine, “I think retirement at any age is a fate worse than death. Just because the numbers are out doesn’t mean I have to stop.”
“It was the honor of a lifetime to work alongside her and I will miss her daily phone calls, always greeted with the obligatory question, ‘What’s in store for you today?'” Sale said in a statement. “It’s a testament to her tireless passion for the work she did. She was a visionary in every sense of the word. She saw the world through a unique lens: huge, distinctive glasses that rested on the top of her nose.”
Apfel was an expert in textiles and antique fabrics. She and her husband, Carl, ran a textile manufacturing company called Old World Weavers and specialized in restoration work, including projects for the White House under six U.S. presidents. Apfel’s celebrity clients included Estée Lauder and Greta Garbo.
Apfel’s own fame exploded in 2005 when the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York City mounted an exhibition about her called “Lara Avis” (Latin for “rare bird”), which the museum described as “witty and highly distinctive.”
Her originality is exemplified by her fusion of high and low fashion — Dior couture mixed with flea-market finds, 19th-century cleric vestments mixed with Dolce & Gabbana lizard-print trousers — and the museum said her “layered combinations” ignored “aesthetic conventions” and expressed a bold, graphic modernity “even in their most extreme and baroque pieces.”
The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, was one of several museums in the country to host a traveling version of the show. Apfel later decided to donate hundreds of pieces (including haute couture gowns) to the Peabody and help build what she called “an incredible fashion collection.” The Fashion & Lifestyle Museum near Apfel’s winter home in Palm Beach, Florida, is also planning a gallery to display items from Apfel’s collection.
Apfel was born in New York City to Samuel and Sadie Burell, whose mother owned a boutique.
In her later years, Apfel rose to fame appearing in advertisements for brands like MAC Cosmetics and Kate Spade, she also designed an accessories and jewelry line for the Home Shopping Network, collaborated with H&M on a collection of brightly colored clothing, jewelry and shoes that sold out within minutes, launched a makeup line with Ciaté London, an eyewear collection with Zenni and partnered with Ruggable for a range of flooring products.
In a 2017 interview with The Associated Press at the age of 95, she said her favorite contemporary designers include Ralph Rucci, Isabel Toledo and Naeem Khan, adding, “There are so many, I don’t have to search.” When asked for fashion advice, she replied, “Everyone should find their own path. I’m an individualist. I don’t like trends. Know who you are, what you look like, what you can handle, and you’ll know what to do.”
She called herself an “accidental icon,” which became the title of a 2018 book filled with memorabilia and style musings. Nods to Apfel abound, from Barbie dolls in her likeness to T-shirts, glasses, artwork, and dolls.
Apfel’s husband died in 2015. The couple had no children.
