“I don’t do minimal”

At the grand old age of 90, former interior designer, fashion maven and New York socialite Iris Apfel is a sudden superstar. She has been photographed by Bruce Weber; Simon Doonan devoted a whole window at swanky department store "Barneys" to her, and in 2005 the Metropolitan Museum of Art mounted a full-scale exhibition dedicated to her wardrobe!



The self-proclaimed "geriatric starlet" is certainly a walking art-form, with trademark out-sized glasses and exquisite - and deliberately clashing on occasions - outfits.


Iris Apfel by Bruce Weber

She also has a lot to say about style...

• "I never care much what people think. I honestly don’t; I don’t pay any attention to the fashion police.
• I don't do minimal."
• "Clothes are not frippery. Properly done, they can be an art form... They are a great vehicle for explaining who you are."
• "I’ve never tried to be a rebel or upset anybody. I just figured if I pleased my husband, and my mother didn’t get upset, then I was okay."
• "People with a lot of money don’t dress as well as people who have to make do, who have to be inventive. Those are the people who are always more interestingly dressed, I think."
• "Diamond necklaces don’t appeal to me at all. I prefer fun jewellery with big stones - so large they would be untouchable if they were real."
• "Now, don’t get me wrong. I do appreciate Daddy Warbucks-size stones, like a big, flawed emerald. I love stones that are inherently flawed: rock crystal, turquoise with big veins."

In September 2011, she launches her own jewellery line Rara Avis ("Rare Bird" - a nickname of hers), which we look out for with trepidation...

A fascinating woman indeed, and a worthy exhibit in the Museum of Camp!

Iris Apfel’s Exuberant Apartment in The Architectural Digest, June 2011.

The book Rare Bird of Fashion: The Irreverent Iris Apfel is available now.