Iris Barrel Apfel died on March 1, 2024, at the age of 102. As an octogenarian she became known as a style icon, although she was fashionable and had her own sense of style throughout her life.
Apfel grew up in Astoria, Queens. Her father ran a glass and mirror business and her mother owned a fashion boutique. She studied at New York University and then attended the University of Wisconsin where she majored in art. There she became a member of Phi Sigma Sigma and served as the chapter’s vice president.
Capital Times, December 20, 1942
She’s second from left in the second row
She worked in fashion in New York City before marrying Carl Apfel on February 22, 1948. From 1950 until 1992, the Apfels owned a textile company, Old World Weavers, and she branched out as an interior decorator. The company’s focus was on 17th, 18th and 19th century fabric reproductions. They collaborated on renovations of the White House under nine presidents from Harry Truman to Bill Clinton.
Apfel had a wonderful eye for fashion and bought items while on her travels all over the world. In September of 2005, Rara Avis (Rare Bird), an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, featured her clothing and accessories.
She was a visiting professor at the University of Texas at Austin in 2012. Apfel was the subject of a documentary by Albert Maysles; in 2014, Iris premiered at the New York Film Festival. Three years later she appeared in the documentary, If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast.
She wrote a biography, Iris Apfel: Accidental Icon, in 2018 and a year later, she signed a modelling contract at the age of 97 .
The Apfels were married for 67 years when Carl Apfel died at the age of 100 on August 1, 2015. I suspect the number of married couples who both make it to age 100 is exceptionally miniscule. What an amazing woman and what an amazing life she led.
