The world has lost a fashion icon.
Designer and fashion icon Iris Apfel has died at the age of 102.
The designer’s verified Instagram account shared the news on March 1.
“Iris Barrel Apfel, August 29, 1921 — March 1, 2024,” the account shared, alongside a photo of Apfel in a gold and black gown.
The photo was taken by one of Apfel’s favorite photographers to work with, Ruven Afanador.
Her representative Lori Sale also confirmed Apfel’s death to TODAY.com.
The fashionista — known for her large-rimmed spectacles and extravagant ensembles — was born on Aug. 29, 1921, in Queens, New York.
As a young woman, she worked at Women’s Wear Daily and studied interior design under Elinor Johnson. According to Sale, that is where she “honed her skill in décor that would transcend decades as she redressed homes for resale and lent her keen eye to sourcing the magical.”
Eventually, Apfel and her husband, Carl Apfel (who died in 2015) founded Old World Weavers. The company sold and restored historic textiles — including at the White House, where they worked for nine presidencies. According to CNBC, it was there she earned the nickname “First Lady of Fabric” or “Our Lady of the Cloth.”
As a prominent woman about town in New York City following her 1992 retirement from Old World Weavers, Apfel was known for her eclectic and bright style. The New York Times reported that her outlandish clothes became the basis for a last-minute exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2005.
“This is no collection. It’s a raid on my closet,” she told the New York Times in 2005 amid the exhibit. “I always thought to show at the Met you had to be dead.”
The exhibit was a roaring success and Apfel’s fame skyrocketed in the years that followed. She became the toast of the town and immediately was enlisted for magazine spreads…
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