From Sameer Suri and Sonia Horon Dailymail.Com
05:11 02 March 2024, 05:11 02 March 2024 Updated
- The news was announced on her Instagram page on Friday.
- A spokesperson confirmed that she died at her home in Palm Beach, Florida.
- Lenny Kravitz, Maria Shriver and others paid tribute
Tributes poured in for fashion maven and self-proclaimed “elderly starlet” Iris Apfel, who died Friday at the age of 102.
The news was announced on her Instagram on Friday, with a beautiful photo of the famous fashionista in a regal black and gold dress and her signature black glasses.
The post’s caption read, “Iris Burrell Apfel, August 29, 1921 – March 1, 2024.”
Many celebrities gave warm testimonials to Iris, who spent her later years as a style icon in New York City.
Rocker Lenny Kravitz said, “You have mastered the art of life. Thank you for your energy and inspiration.”
Maria Shriver writes: #IrisApfel has truly lived an amazing life. She really did it all. She was a businesswoman, fashion model, fashion icon, university professor, documentary star, and Barbie doll. Iris truly proves that her age is just a number. ”
Actress Hannah Waddingham also paid tribute, writing: “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”. good night. God bless your wife. What joy and endless style you have brought to so many people. ”
“Please take a break!” gushed plus-size model Tess Holliday. “Thank you for living your life so beautifully and inspiring so many of us to live boldly.”
A spokesperson for her estate confirmed the news to The New York Times, saying she died at her home in Palm Beach, Florida.
Fans rushed to her social media pages to pay their respects, amid an outpouring of passionate messages from celebrities.
Designer Jenna Lyons added: “Thank you for sharing your beautiful life.”
One person wrote: “Rest in peace icon.”
“I’ll miss you,” one person wrote, adding a red heart emoji.
Another follower wrote: “An icon and a true inspiration.”
“Rest in beauty icon.”
Apfel only came to international attention in 2005 when the Metropolitan Museum of Art mounted an exhibition called Lara Avis (Rare Birds), which focused on her fashion sense.
Iris Apfel (real name Iris Burrell) was born on August 29, 1921 in Astoria, Queens, New York, the only child of Samuel Burrell and his Russian-born wife, Sadie Burrell.
She began her career as copywriter and interior designer Eleanor Johnson for Women’s Wear Daily.
In 1948, she married her husband, Karl Apfel, and together they ran a textile company until their retirement 44 years later.
Over the years, the two worked on many restoration projects, including the White House.
Karl passed away in 2015 at the age of 100.
In 2019, 97-year-old Iris signed a modeling contract with IMG. IMG is the same firm that has represented top stars such as Gigi Hadid, Karlie Kloss, and Miranda Kerr.
Despite coming close to surpassing 100 points, Apfel showed no signs of slowing down, telling WWD he was “very excited” about his new contract.
But the star made a beeline for walking down the catwalk, telling the publication, “How can I compete on the runway?” That’s ridiculous,” she said.
“Hopefully we’ll do a collaboration, or maybe I’ll be the publicist. I’ll leave that up to them. They know better than I do.”
“In my limited career, I’ve received all sorts of interesting commissions. We stock everything from vodka and cars to beauty products, and we’ve done things like Bon Marché in Paris, Landmark Mall in Hong Kong, We’ve also done a lot of interesting collaborations with big-box stores like Macy’s and Bergdorf Goodman.”
Over the past decade, Apfel has modeled for a very impressive roster of well-known fashion and beauty brands.
She has worked on campaigns for Kate Spade, MAC Cosmetics, Alexis Bitter, Macy’s INC, Blue Illusion, HSN, Le Bon Marche, and German brand Aigner.
In each piece, she shows off a side of her style, including her signature oversized round glasses.
In some photos, she poses alongside models a quarter of her age, including Karlie, Toni Garrn, Tavi Gevinson and Jourdan Dunn.
She has previously expressed her opinion on style, telling Women’s Wear Daily, “I don’t think style is ageless.” It’s in your DNA, it’s innate. It’s a matter of attitude. ”
No one was more surprised by her later career as a model than Apfel herself. Although she has had a long career in the fashion industry, it is what keeps her in the fashion world that she has owned her own textile company, Old Her World Weavers, since 1950. I was able to.
“I never expected my life to turn out the way it did, so I didn’t prepare for it. It all happened so suddenly that I was young enough to set up an agency and do all kinds of things. “I didn’t think I was going to get involved,” she said.
“I thought it was a flash in the pan, but it didn’t last long. Somehow, people found me. People would just call. Tommy Hilfiger said it couldn’t be done, and I It brought us all together. I’m so excited and so grateful.”
In addition to modeling, she also designed her own clothing and accessories line for HSN and published a book in 2018.
“My husband, until he died, we used to sit there and laugh. I don’t think I’m any different than I was 70 years ago, but all of a sudden I’m cool, I am.” Featured properties. ridiculous. People say it’s because I’m authentic…and I say what I think,” she added.
In 2016, she gave advice to young women entrepreneurs at the Women’s Entrepreneurship Day conference at the United Nations.
“Seizing the opportunity and running with it is very important because I’ve never had a business plan before. Things came out of the blue and I grabbed it,” she said. I told them.
“I’m happy to see that all these glass ceilings are being shattered. I feel like if women had been a little more forceful and stuck with it, this kind of sentiment wouldn’t have happened as much as it did. ” she added.
“When I started, dinosaurs roamed the earth. I’m 95 years old, but I’ve worked all my life. It hasn’t been easy, but if you really want to do it, you can do it.”
