STYLE FOR MILES

Late-Blooming Fashion Star Iris Apfel Dies at 102

A former interior designer, she opened her closet for an exhibit at the Met and became an instant icon.

Iris Apfel, the fashion icon recognizable for her oversized glasses and wild sartorial style, died at home in Palm Beach at the age of 102, The New York Times reported. A former interior designer, Apfel shot to fame in her 80s after the Metropolitan Museum of Art created a show around her colorful, eclectic, never-boring wardrobe. She modeled, sat in the front row at fashion shows, sold jewelry and scarves on the Home Shopping Network, collaborated with Ruggable, and became the subject of a documentary. “Oh it’s very surprising to me. I can’t get over it, I still don’t believe it,” Apfel told The Daily Beast in 2015 about her late-blooming celebrity. “I went to Brazil last year, and all these kids were jumping all over me at the airport. I couldn’t believe it. And they photographed me for Vogue and all kinds of stuff. I mean they carry on with me like I invented penicillin.”