Interior Designer and Socialite
Entered Fashion Industry After 80, Became Fashion Icon
"I am the oldest teenager in the world"
Iris Apfel, an American interior designer and New York socialite who gained great fame as a fashion icon in the twilight of her life with her flamboyant and bold style, passed away on the 1st (local time) at the age of 102.
On the 1st (local time), Iris Apfel, a fashion icon, passed away at the age of 102. [Image source=Iris Apfel Instagram capture]
On that day, foreign media including The New York Times (NYT) reported that Apfel died at her home in Palm Beach, Florida. Apfel was famous for her distinctive style featuring oversized horn-rimmed glasses half the size of her face, colorful and unique outfits in primary colors such as red, yellow, and green, and chunky accessories wrapped around her neck and arms. In an interview during her lifetime, she revealed her fashion philosophy, saying, "If you don't dress like others, you don't have to think like others," and "More is better, and less is boring." Apfel introduced herself on her Instagram account, which had over 2 million followers, as "the oldest teenager in the world," and often referred to herself as a "Geriatric Starlet."
Born in New York in 1921, Apfel became a famous figure in the fashion world after turning 80. After marriage, she and her husband ran a company specializing in reproducing 17th to 19th-century textiles, achieving success with clients such as actress Greta Garbo and cosmetics company founder Est?e Lauder. Apfel also gained fame by overseeing interior design projects at the White House for nine U.S. presidents, including John F. Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan.
Apel is holding a Barbie doll modeled after herself. [Image source=Captured from Iris Apel's Instagram]
She established herself as a fashion icon starting in 2005 when she held an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. At the exhibition, Apfel showcased 82 pieces of clothing and 300 accessories from her personal collection. The museum proposed the exhibition after hearing rumors that Apfel was an extraordinary fashion collector, and the event attracted great attention, with top designers of the time such as Giorgio Armani and Karl Lagerfeld attending. Apfel was the first individual to have a personal clothing collection exhibited at the museum.
Afterward, even in her 80s, Apfel worked as a model for advertisements and fashion magazines and signed contracts with modeling agencies. In 2017, Mattel, the American Barbie doll manufacturer, created a Barbie modeled after Apfel. In 2019, at the age of 97, Apfel signed with IMG, the world's largest modeling agency, and last year, at the age of 101, she became the advertising model for the cosmetics brand Ciat? London.
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