The quirky fashion designer and style icon Iris Apfel passed away on March 1 at the age of 102. Apfel was a vibrant and diligent worker who rose to iconic status in her 80s and 90s, a decade when individuals were supposed to be retiring from public life. These were the years of Apfel’s life when her rise to fame was most dramatic.
Apfel’s life defies antiquated beliefs and prejudices that are pervasive in the media and society today, as have the lives of many others who have prospered in later life. Specifically, the belief that competence and age are inherently related while, in reality, they are not.
Her parents were prosperous business proprietors, and she was born in 1921. Before attending art school at the University of Wisconsin, Apfel studied art history at New York University. Her first job after graduating was as a copywriter for the fashion trade publication Women’s Wear Daily. She married Carol Apfel a year after they first got together when she was 27 years old.
In partnership with her spouse, Iris Apfel established Old World Weavers, a tapestry enterprise that specializes in fabric repair and antique replications. Nine sitting presidents and Greta Garbo were among the wealthy and well-known people they were able to interact with thanks to their specialty. They operated the business for forty-two years, making several trips to find fabrics and patterns that would appeal to their affluent clients.
Fashion and Glamor
Thanks to her trips, Iris Apfel was able to purchase beautiful jewels and fabrics from Middle Eastern souks. She wore these items with ostentatious jackets and outfits, many of which had fur and feathers. Combining high-end and low-end pieces, stacking necklaces one on top of the other, and accessorizing with enormous, saucer-shaped glasses were some of her signature looks. She also frequently wore large, colorful bangles on both arms.
Apfel continued to work as a consultant after they sold their business in 1992. Working was a part of who she was, and she never stopped. Apfel bravely accepted the many possibilities that became available to her because she continued to be involved and active.
She was asked to display some of her distinctive jewelry in 2005 by the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Apfel opened her closets to the curators once it became clear that the display would look better as part of an outfit. The end result was a presentation featuring over 300 accessories and over 80 themed ensembles.
With the fitting title “Rara Avis: The Irreverent Iris Apfel,” the curation recognized Apfel as a unique bird whose fashion never adhered to convention.
Apfel became a style icon with her ability to combine glam with costume, bold with bolder, and never be afraid to add just one more of anything and pull it off. Following her performance at the Met, she was in high demand. Apfel was eighty-four.
But there was still more to come.
She started working as a professor at the University of Texas at the age of 90.
She revealed that she never intended to become famous while starring in her documentary, Iris, at the age of 93.” It just sort of happened.”
Her book Iris Apfel: Accidental Icon was published when she was ninety-six years old.
She signed a modeling contract with the international agency IMG Models at the age of 97. She was represented by the same agency as supermodels Kate Moss, Karlie Kloss, and Gigi Hadid.
As if that weren’t enough, Apfel is the oldest individual whose likeness Mattel has utilized to create a Barbie.
Older Adult Creativity
“This disgusting sameness,” Iris Apfel once bemoaned to me, according to an article published in The Times last month by Anna Murphy. Individuals tend to have the same desire to appear alike. For her, dressing is “an exercise in creative expression.” That seems like it could also be the experience of becoming older.
I think all of us can turn growing older into a creative endeavor. The ageist and ableist preconceptions about what older people can or should do, however, need to be dispelled by culture. Senior citizens must be willing to rebel against the repulsive conformity that is required of them.
The U.S. Census Bureau projects that within the next three decades, the number of Americans who are 100 years of age or older will more than triple. The number of centenarians in the United States has almost tripled in just the past thirty years. This percentage is significantly greater in other regions of the world.
The question then becomes: How many Iris Apfel will it take to debunk the fact that capacity and age are inextricably linked? Making a difference is something one can do at any age.