Age can be a scary factor a lot of people. Except for Iris Apfel, age never stopped her from doing anything. One of my favorite things to say is “It’s not too late as long as you’re living” now, of course this doesn’t apply to everything; however, I do believe it applies to most of life’s situations. Iris attended New York University and started a great career at Women’s Wear Daily. She was also an interior designer at Elinor Johnson and an assistant to the illustrator, Robert Goodman.
Later on Iris married Carl Apfel and they started a textile company together. Old World Weavers became very successful and led to several projects at the White House for nine different presidents. Their company ran from 1950-1992 because Carl and Iris decided to retire, but Iris simply wasn’t done. She changed careers at a time in her life that a lot of people would retire. She became one of fashions most trusted tastemakers. Inspiring people of all ages from babies to other senior citizens. Coffee table books were written about her, she was in MAC campaigns, had a H&M design collaboration, and was the subject of several museum exhibitions.
In 2005 the Metropolitan Museum of Art debuted an exhibit in her name titled ” Rara Avis (Rare Bird): The Irreverent Iris Apfel” Carla Fendi, Giorgio Armani, and Karl Lagerfeld were all in attendance. This magical exhibit included a finely curated collection of Iris’ personal style, how she decorated her home, and how she lived her life. Regardless of age, Iris also started her modeling career at 91 years old. She was signed to IMG for representation in 2019.
Iris lived an incredible life before sadly passing this year at 102 years old. For more on Iris check out her documentary “Iris” on Netflix.
