Iris Apfel, a textile expert, interior designer and fashion celebrity known for her eccentric style, has died. She was 102.
Her death was confirmed by her commercial agent, Lori Sale, who called Apfel 鈥渆xtraordinary.鈥 No cause of death was given. It was also announced on her verified Instagram page on Friday, which a day earlier had celebrated that Leap Day represented her 102nd-and-a-half birthday.
Born Aug. 29, 1921, Apfel was famous for her irreverent, eye-catching outfits, mixing haute couture and oversized costume jewelry. A classic Apfel look would, for instance, pair a feather boa with strands of chunky beads, bangles and a jacket decorated with Native American beadwork.
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 museum exhibits and a documentary film, "Iris," directed by Albert Maysles.
鈥淚'm not pretty, and I'll never be pretty, but it doesn't matter,鈥 she once said. 鈥淚 have something much better. I have style."
Apfel enjoyed late-in-life fame on social media, amassing nearly three million followers on Instagram, where her profile declares: 鈥淢ore is more & Less is a Bore.鈥 On TikTok, she drew 215,000 followers as she waxed wise on things fashion and style and promoted recent collaborations.
鈥淏eing stylish and being fashionable are two entirely different things," she said in one TikTok video. 鈥淵ou can easily buy your way into being fashionable. Style, I think is in your DNA. It implies originality and courage.鈥
She never retired, telling 鈥淭oday鈥: "I think retiring at any age is a fate worse than death. Just because a number comes up doesn鈥檛 mean you have to stop.鈥
鈥淲orking alongside her was the honor of a lifetime. I will miss her daily calls, always greeted with the familiar question: 鈥淲hat have you got for me today?鈥 Sale said in a statement. 鈥淭estament to her insatiable desire to work. She was a visionary in every sense of the word. She saw the world through a unique lens 鈥 one adorned with giant, distinctive spectacles that sat atop her nose.鈥
Apfel was an expert on textiles and antique 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 U.S. presidents. Apfel鈥檚 celebrity clients included Estee Lauder and Greta Garbo.
Apfel鈥檚 own fame blew up in 2005 when the Metropolitan Museum of Art鈥檚 Costume Institute in New York City hosted a show about her called 鈥淩ara Avis,鈥 Latin for 鈥渞are bird.鈥 The museum described her style as 鈥渂oth witty and exuberantly idiosyncratic.
Her originality is typically revealed in her mixing of high and low fashions 鈥 Dior haute couture with flea market finds, 19th-century ecclesiastical vestments with Dolce & Gabbana lizard trousers.鈥 The museum said her 鈥渓ayered combinations鈥 defied 鈥渁esthetic conventions鈥 and 鈥渆ven at their most extreme and baroque鈥 represented a 鈥渂oldly graphic modernity.鈥
Auteur of Style honoree Iris Apfel attends The Fashion Group International's Night of Stars Gala at Cipriani Wall Street on Oct. 27. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass., was one of several museums around the country that hosted a traveling version of the show. Apfel later decided to donate hundreds of pieces to the Peabody 鈥 including couture gowns 鈥 to help them build what she termed 鈥渁 fabulous fashion collection.鈥 The Museum of Fashion & Lifestyle near Apfel鈥檚 winter home in Palm Beach, Florida, also plans a gallery dedicated to displaying items from Apfel鈥檚 collection.
Apfel was born in New York City to Samuel and Sadye Barrel. Her mother owned a boutique.
Apfel鈥檚 fame in her later years included appearances in ads for brands like M.A.C. cosmetics and Kate Spade. She also designed a line of accessories and jewelry for Home Shopping Network, collaborated with H&M on a sold-out-in-minutes collection of brightly-colored apparel, jewelry and shoes, put out a makeup line with Ciat茅 London, an eyeglass collection with Zenni and partnered with Ruggable on floor coverings.
In a 2017 interview with AP at age 95, she said her favorite contemporary designers included Ralph Rucci, Isabel Toledo and Naeem Khan, but added: "I have so much, I don't go looking." Asked for her fashion advice, she said: "Everybody should find her own way. I'm a great one for individuality. I don't like trends. If you get to learn who you are and what you look like and what you can handle, you'll know what to do."
She called herself the 鈥渁ccidental icon,鈥 which became the title of a book she published in 2018 filled with her mementos and style musings. Odes to Apfel are abundant, from a Barbie in her likeness to T-shirts, glasses, artwork and dolls.
Apfel鈥檚 husband predeceased her. They had no children.
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