Tributes pour in for fashion icon Iris Apfel who has died age 102

Tributes are flowing for renowned designer Iris Apfel, best known for her oversized black-rimmed glasses, after her death was announced.

Renowned New York designer and style icon Iris Apfel, known for her eclectic style and oversized black-rimmed glasses, has died at age 102.

The fashion and interiors tastemaker who found fame as an octogenarian passed away on Friday at Palm Beach home in the US state of Florida, the New York Post reported.

Stu Loeser, a spokesman for her estate, confirmed her death to multiple US outlets but did not give a cause of death, The Guardian stated.

Apfel had a hugely successful career in textiles, which including a contract with the White House that spanned nine presidencies, even consulting on restoration projects at the iconic American landmark.

Although Apfel was well-known in NYC circles, she became a household name at age 84, when she was unexpectedly tapped for a museum exhibit.

Harold Koda, a fashion scholar and the curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, had called Apfel when a summer exhibit was suddenly cancelled.

Koda said he had heard so much about Apfel’s extensive costume jewellery collection, he decided to ask her to curate an exhibit, with the showing catapulting her to fame.

Called “Rara Avis,” Latin for “rare bird”, the personal collection of vintage and designer accessories, which were styled on mannequins with clothes as she would wear it, was an instant success.

Iris Apfel has died at the age of 102 in her home in Palm Beach, Florida. Picture: Jamie McCarthy / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP

She was awarded several opportunities following her Met exhibit, including featuring in a 2007 coffee table book, a groundbreaking 2012 MAC Cosmetics campaign, and a 2014 documentary.

‘Iris’, the doco about her life, was released by award-winning filmmaker Albert Maysles and was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2017.

It was one of Maysles’ last works before he died in 2015 at 88 years old.

“They just took lots and lots of footage — I think there’s enough film left on the cutting-room floor to do three more films — so it came as kind of a shock,” Apfel told The Cut in 2015.

“I’m very pleased that Albert loved it, as it was his last work. And I’m very gratified at the response we’re getting because I had no idea what to expect; I thought people might just laugh, you know, in not the right way.”

The designer often referred to herself as an “accidental icon,” a title she also gave her 2018 memoir. She often also referred to herself as a “geriatric starlet”.

Apfel rose to fame in 2005 when her personal jewellery collection became an exhibit at The Met. Picture: Noam Galai/Getty Images for Central Park Tower

That same year, Mattel made a Barbie doll in her honour for International Women’s Day. At the time, she was 96, making her the oldest person to be turned into a Barbie doll.

Her other artistic collaborations involved the machine-washable rug retailer Ruggable, the makeup company Ciaté London, and the clothing brand H&M.

In 2021, she celebrated her 100th birthday on the 100th floor of Central Park Tower, according to “TODAY” — with the party drawing Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Karan, Katie Holmes, Barbie Ferreira, Alexis Bittar and other A-listers.

The style icon was married to Carl Apfel from 1948 until his death in 2015 at the age of 100, just a few days before his 101st birthday. They had no children.

Since news of Apfel’s passing was announced on Saturday, tributes have begun pouring in, many labelling her “an icon” and a “legend”.

She often described herself as an ‘accidental icon’ or a ‘geriatric starlet’. Picture: Katy Winn/Getty Images for IMG

Tributes have already begun pouring in for the fashion lover. Picture: Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Macy's

“Style is forever. Legends never die. Rest in Maximalism, Iris Apfel,” one wrote on X.

“Put an extra accessory on before leaving the house this weekend in honour of Iris Apfel,” another said.

Whole another shared: “She was a true genius, who could rock a loud print and chunky costume jewellery like no one else.”

“Wow! What a truly remarkable life #IrisApfel lived. She truly did it all: she was a businesswoman, she was a fashion model, she was a fashion icon, she was a college professor, she was a star of a documentary, she was a Barbie doll! Iris is truly proof that age is just a number,” another added.

“Fashion icon and renaissance woman extraordinaire. She was 102 and influenced many,” someone else stated.

— With The New York Post