Iris Apfel, the celebrity interior designer and fashion icon from New York, died unexpectedly aged 102 at her residence in Palm Beach, Florida on Friday. Stu Loeser, a spokesman for her estate, confirmed her death to multiple US outlets but didn’t disclose the reason for her demise. CelebrityNetWorth states that she was the co-founder of the textile company ‘Old World Weavers’ with her husband Carl. They further added that Iris Apfel net worth was believed to be $25 million.
Social media platforms were flooded with tributes from other noted personalities. Maria Shriver, famous US author and journalist, shared a photo on Facebook and wrote, “She truly did it all: she was a businesswoman, she was a fashion model, she was a fashion icon, she was a college professor, she was a star of a documentary, she was a Barbie doll!”
As an eminent authority on antique fabrics, Apfel consulted on restoration projects including work at the White House. It was previously mentioned that she along with her husband Carl founded a fabric restoration firm ‘Old World Weavers’ in 1950 and continued its operation till they retired in 1992. Their textile firm was expert in restoration of fabrics and furniture that were manufactured between the 17th and 19th century and undertook many restoration projects for clients including Greta Garbo and Estée Lauder. Their firm was also awarded the restoration projects at the White House for nine presidents including Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Reagan and Clinton.
Iris Apfel even played a role of a consultant to ‘Old World Weavers’ after it was sold in 1992. Apart from her contributions to Old World Weavers, she became famous for her collection of clothes and accessories. This collection was later displayed at an exhibition organized at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was the first time the Metropolitan Museum had focused on a living female who was not a designer. In this show Apfel, for the first time, dressed the mannequins herself, styling them in her own unique way.
The response to this ‘Rara Avis’ (Rare Bird) show, mainly through word of mouth, was unprecedented. Giorgio Armani and Karl Lagerfeld attended the opening night and Apfel was catapulted to fashion fame. This exhibition gradually made her famous in the fashion industry and she joined as a visiting professor at the University of Texas.
In 2021, when she was aged 100, she was so energetic that she started another business venture with Zenni Optical to launch an eyewear line. In an interview with People magazine a few days after her 100th birthday, she said, “At 100, what else is there to do except sit around? I don’t play bridge. I don’t play golf. I love to work, and I really enjoy what I do.”
Born Iris Barrel in 1921 in Queens, New York, she completed her study of art history at New York University and later attended art school at the University of Wisconsin.
In the beginning of her career, she was a copywriter at Women’s Wear Daily. She later joined the interior designer Elinor Johnson and also the illustrator Robert Goodman.
In 1948, she married Carl Apfel. Specializing in fabric reproductions from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, the couple used to travel foreign countries extensively, searching for textiles they could not source in the US.
In an interview with the Guardian in 2015, Apfel explained it was one of the reasons they decided not to have children. “I don’t believe in a child having a nanny, so it wasn’t what we were going to do, but also having children is like protocol. You’re expected to. And I don’t like to be pigeonholed.”
In 2012 at the age of 91, she became Dazed Magazine’s oldest cover star. She signed with one of the world’s biggest modeling agencies, IMG in 2019 following advice from the designer Tommy Hilfiger. At 101 she landed her first beauty campaign when she collaborated with Ciaté London on a makeup line.
As of this writing, we do not have detailed information on Iris Apfel’s survivors. Her husband Carl died in 2015 and the couple did not have any children over the years. Hence it is now a million-dollar question who will inherit Iris Apfel net worth?