Iris Apfel

Iris Apfel
Born (1921-08-29) August 29, 1921
Astoria, Queens, New York
Education New York University, New York City

Iris Apfel (born August 29, 1921) is an American businesswoman, interior designer, and fashion icon.

Early life

Born Iris Barrel in Astoria, Queens, New York, Apfel is the only child of Samuel Barrel, whose family owned a glass-and-mirror business, and his Russian-born wife, Sadye, who owned a fashion boutique. Both were Jewish.[1] [2]

She studied art history at New York University and attended art school at the University of Wisconsin.

Career

As a young woman, Apfel worked for Women's Wear Daily and for interior designer Elinor Johnson. She also was an assistant to illustrator Robert Goodman.[1]

In 1948, she married Carl Apfel. Two years later, they launched the textile firm Old World Weavers and ran it until they retired in 1992. From 1950 to 1992, Iris Apfel took part in several design restoration projects, including work at the White House for nine presidents: Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Clinton.

Through their business, the couple began traveling all over the world where she began buying pieces of non-Western, artisanal clothes. She wore these clothes to clients' high-society parties.[3]

In 2016, she performed in a television commercial for the French car DS 3,[4] and was the face of Australian brand Blue Illusion.[5]

Legacy

Museum retrospectives

On September 13, 2005, The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York premiered an exhibition about Iris Apfel's style entitled Rara Avis (Rare Bird): The Irreverent Iris Apfel. The success of the exhibition, curated by Stéphane Houy-Towner,[6] prompted an initial traveling version of the exhibit at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida,[7] the Nassau County Museum of Art in Roslyn Harbor, New York, and later at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts.[8]

The Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History in Boynton Beach, Florida, is designing a building that will house a dedicated gallery of Apfel's clothes, accessories, and furnishings.

Advisory and academic roles

At age 90 in 2012, Apfel was a visiting professor at University of Texas at Austin.[9]

Apfel consults and lectures about style and other fashion topics. In 2013, she was listed as one of the fifty "Best-Dressed over 50s" by The Guardian.[10]

Documentary

Apfel is the star of a documentary by Albert Maysles, called Iris.[11][12][13][14][15] It premiered at the New York Film Festival in October 2014, and was subsequently acquired by Magnolia Pictures for US theatrical distribution in 2015.[16]

Personal life

Apfel's husband of 67 years, Carl Apfel, died on August 1, 2015, just three days shy of his 101st birthday.[17]

References

  1. 1 2 Hodson, Heather (3 March 2007). "Anything goes". The Daily Telegraph (London).
  2. ↑ "Iris Apfel: a Jewish Collector of Great Style". The Jewish Daily Forward. 20 November 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  3. ↑ Hodson, Heather. "Anything goes". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  4. ↑ "Iris Apfel Does a Cool Car Commercial for the DS3 Facelift". Autoevolution. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  5. ↑ Jenni Ryall (24 February 2016). "94-year-old fashion icon Iris stars in campaign for Australian fashion brand". Mashable. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  6. ↑ "Rara Avis: Selections from the Iris Barrel Apfel Collection". metmuseum.org (Press release). Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  7. ↑ "Norton Museum of Art Event Info". museumsusa.org. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  8. ↑ http://www.pem.org/exhibitions/21-rare_bird_of_fashion_the_irreverent_iris_apfel
  9. ↑ Staff Writer (5 January 2012). "Rare Bird of Fashion—and Academia". utexas.edu. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  10. ↑ Cartner-Morley, Jess; Mirren, Helen; Huffington, Arianna; Amos, Valerie (28 March 2013). "The 50 Best-dressed over 50s". The Guardian (London).
  11. ↑ http://www.mayslesfilms.com/production/
  12. ↑ Warburton, Sophie (26 August 2011). "Victoria's Secret News". The Daily Telegraph (London).
  13. ↑ "5万円借りる～実力派のココがおすすめ！". irisapfelfilm.com. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  14. ↑ "First look: Iris Apfel film". elleuk.com. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  15. ↑ "Un documentaire sur Iris Apfel". Vogue (in French). Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  16. ↑ "Magnolia Pictures Acquires 'Iris,' Albert Maysles' NYFF Documentary". 24 October 2014.
  17. ↑ "Carl Apfel," Hollywood Reporter
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