IRIS APFEL, Style Icon has Died at 102: Fly high, Rara Avis!
“I like to improvise.” — Iris Apfel
In our first journal entry, we celebrate the inimitable, Iris Apfel. A woman of style, exuberance and profound strength of character. She personified “sprezzatura” in her nonchalance and ease — like a great jazz musician on a riff, she dabbled and twiddled with her wardrobe to wondrous results. Even her most elaborate and studied outfits had a sense of freedom and playfulness to them. She inspired us all in her 102 years on this Earth, and we will miss her dearly. We thank her for her indelible legacy and the beauty she shared with everyone who knew her or knew of her, through her warmth and charm.
Richard Phibbs for Harper’s Bazaar Arabia; Dress by Benchellal
The old adage, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” is commonly dismissed as a tired cliché, but the truth behind the words is constantly confirmed. Each person sees beauty in an array of different corners and crevices and nooks and crannies that might repel the next person because, as we can all agree, beauty is subjective. But there are still those pillars of artistry and magnificence that seem to enrapture large swaths of the population — icons we can all stand around, nodding synchronously, sharing our mutual awe and admiration. One such icon, is Iris Apfel. She was the embodiment of the aforementioned cliché, as she vigorously defended originality and being true to what makes you feel beautiful. Iris was unapologetically unique and wanted you to be, too.
In the books she published in her later years, in particular, Iris Apfel: Accidental Icon, Iris bestowed upon the world the gems of knowledge she had accrued with her century on this planet. Her witty words of wisdom made each of us feel seen and encouraged readers to never be afraid to be just be themselves.
“You don’t find out who you are unless you work at it.” — Iris Apfel
She was right with that pearl, it's work to be yourself, to know thyself. Being ourselves, honoring our true self, takes effort, dedication and patience. We have to work at being true to ourselves and most importantly, finding out who we are. It was this kind of insight that endeared Iris to the entire world, making self-proclaimed insiders and outsiders alike find solace in her words. On fashion, her succinct and adroit observations were equal parts sage proverb and beloved bumpersticker:
“It’s not what you wear but HOW YOU WEAR IT.” — Iris Apfel
Iris Apfel had no qualms about becoming a caricature of herself: the big, round glasses with her bright blue eyes peeping from behind with childlike wonder; the playful mix of colorful fabrics and motifs adorned with oversize baubles that could be Bakelite, resin or plastic, but even though we had come to count on Iris’s signature glasses, color combos and flashy accessories, she could still surprise.
“I don’t dress to be stared at;
I dress for myself.
When you don’t dress like everyone else,
you don’t have to think like everyone else.”
— Iris Apfel
“I'd rather go to a flea market than just about anything. It's the process I like - the same with getting dressed. If I've got someplace to be, I'll spend more time getting dressed than I spent at the actual event. Sometimes. Even in my own closet, I love to dig and search and find.” — Iris Apfel
Even the contradictions that made up Iris fit together seemingly well: she hawked her accessories line on the Home Shopping Network, donned her signature glasses for Le Bon Marché or Bergdorf Goodman and did so with the same charm and ease with which she helped decorate the White House for nine different presidents, starting with Harry S. Truman and reaching all the way to Bill Clinton. Her personal anecdotes regarding interactions with Jackie Kennedy, Pat Nixon and Nancy Reagan are the stuff of legend. Through her and her husband’s work for the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, the nine presidential administrations they worked for spanned from 1951-1992.
For a bit of perspective, below are all nine presidents that Iris and her husband, Carl, met while collaborating with their respective administrations (and First Ladies) to decorate and aid in textile refurbishment for the White House:
From left to right on each row: Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.
“We did major work at the White House. But what people often don't understand is that when you do a historic restoration, you can't just do whatever you want. You work alongside the fine-arts commission and are obliged to create a replica of the past, as close as humanly possible. It's a historic institution, not a showhouse.” — Iris Apfel
Iris and her husband Carl of 68 years, were married in 1948 and two years later began their company Old World Weavers which they sold in 1992, though they continued to collaborate for another 13 years. During almost five decades they helmed the company, the couple traveled the world establishing relationships with artisans and artists from each corner of the Earth: from the bazaars of Marrakech to the verdant hills of Tuscany, souks and flea markets alike were their playground and there they unearthed a plethora of treasures. It’s clear to see the connection between the incredible fabric collection Iris and Carl amassed for Old World Weavers and the inspiring wardrobe that Iris flaunted throughout her professional life and which launched her into her “geriatric starlet-hood,” beginning with the Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute’s 2005 exhibit Rara Avis, showcasing Iris’s formidable one of a kind pieces with a focus on her eclectic and eye-catching accessory collection.
Iris and Carl Apfel in their Manhattan apartment surrounded by their collection of antiques and their boiserie paneling brought from France.
“Oh my God, I'm a walking advertisement for discounted shopping.” — Iris Apfel
But probably the most endearing quality Iris possessed — and certainly one of the qualities that made her stardom so powerful and lasting — was her ability to make style so egalitarian. It wasn’t all Met Galas and front row at Fashion Week. She humbly called herself the “geriatric starlet” and constantly repeated her passion for flea markets and bargain sales. And while doing so, she reassured us all that we had the power to be unique individuals already within us, and that we just had to work at knowing ourselves.
“Whatever happened to the cultivation of the inner self? It's painful and it's work, but it always pays off.” — Iris Apfel
As Iris herself professed, she loved high-end designers, but she would not be caught dead in an all couture ensemble, preferring her idiosyncratic mix of high and low. Flear market finds were a staple, regardless of a fine Fendi two-piece suit, which is really what most designers want: for the client to wear the clothes, not the clothes to wear the client. After all, it’s the wearer that brings the clothes to life! But more often than not, Iris would be modeling a multi-colored caftan or exuberantly ruffled outfit or some feathery jacket.
As she related to her interviewer for Tatler Asia:
“Some of the most stylish people I know didn’t have any money and didn’t have any nice clothes; they just had an attitude and a way of carrying themselves that made them look stupendous. That’s something that you have to do for yourself. Fashion you can buy, but style you must possess. It’s in your DNA.” — Iris Apfel
Iris Apfel Ad for Le Bon Marché, Paris
“I love high-end designers, but a head-to-toe designer look for me is extremely boring. I've always mixed it up.” — Iris Apfel
Iris’s most enduring legacy, possibly her raison d’etre as a prolific decorator and textile designer, is thanks her lifelong dedication to artisans and fine craftsmanship. From a young age, Iris was surrounded by fashion at her mother’s boutique. Her mother was a stylish woman who’s own flair greatly influenced Iris’s quest for using clothing and accessories for self-expression. But it’s Iris, and her husband Carl’s, decades of travels around the world — visiting flear markets, bazaars, souks, museums, collectors and the current-day artisans who continued the fine traditions of their ancestors — in the most far-flung regions of Asia, Africa, South America and Europe, that molded her aesthetic and fine-tuned her eye. She developed a keen appreciation for the traditions and craftsmanship that were required to continue the wonderful hand-made pieces she encountered from artisans around the world. And she was their great champion. Seeking them out to bring long forgotten textiles back to life or recreate designs in custom clothes and jewelry. This part of her legacy was also the reason the United Nations affiliated NGO, Women Together, chose Iris as their 2016 Special Award Recipient of the Year.
Iris Apfel receiving her Person of the Year Award from NGO Women Together in 2016 at the United Nations Headquarters, NYC
Iris Apfel’s light will shine forever bright. She couldn’t understand how her stardom came about, mostly because she didn’t find she was doing anything out of the ordinary, she was just…being herself. But in our hyper-globalized world today, where one might expect that greater access to information and to different perspectives and forms of life would create greater diversity as influences, traditions and genres mix — the very opposite has happened. Today, if we’re not careful, it’s all too easy to slip into a homogenous, almost rhythmic, conformity: the same house plants, the same kitchen sinks and counters, the same accessible trousers, the globe-trotting trend that everyone must follow…even the same uninspired, repetitious dance moves! Iris stood for the very opposite, and the fact that her being herself resonated with so many, proves that we aren’t ready “to go gentle into that goodnight…” In fact, Iris’s twilight years were the embodiment of Dylan Thomas’s poetry;
“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
— Dylan Thomas, excerpt from “Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night”
Iris Apfel in her Manhattan apartment.
Iris didn’t just rage against the dying of the light, she danced and laughed and she was the entire fiery sunset and her rainbow of colors will continue to illuminate our lives for generations to come. Thank you, Iris, for being our “geriatric starlet.” Fly high, Rara Avis!
“Color can raise the dead.” — Iris Apfel