More is more: the transcendent spirit of fashion icon Iris Apfel

An interior designer, textile entrepreneur, businessperson and fashion icon who became a model at age 97, Iris Apfel proved that a signature look is always en vogue. Known for her oversized glasses, bold patterns and armful of bangles, Apfel embraced daring individuality and helped rewrite the rules of style.

Beginning 28 January, Christie’s will offer more than 200 items online from Ms. Apfel’s personal collection. Unapologetically Iris: The Collection of Iris Apfel will include fashion and jewellery from her prismatic wardrobe alongside art and furniture from her homes in New York and Palm Beach, giving collectors the opportunity to own a piece of the luminary’s signature look.

A student of craftsmanship and history

Apfel was born in Queens, New York, in 1921, the only child of Samuel and Sadye Barrel. After studying art history at New York University, she attended art school at the University of Wisconsin. In 1951, she founded Old World Weavers, a textile company, with her husband, Carl Apfel. The company became one of the most respected brands in the industry and held contracts with museums and institutions including the White House.

The couple’s business took them around the world, and their travels influenced Apfel’s now-legendary personal style. A student of craftsmanship and history, she was drawn to blending old and new, ornate and simple.

‘The matriarch of Maximalism’

‘When you don’t dress like everyone else, you don’t have to think like everyone else,’ she told the New York Times in 2011. Fashion, for Apfel, was the ultimate form of self-expression, an unmatched way to tell your own story.

Dubbed ‘the matriarch of maximalism’ by the BBC after her death in 2024, she was known for her embrace of bold patterns, copious accessories and fearless colour choices. The breadth of objects in Christie’s upcoming sale — from beads and bracelets to a feather coat by Dior and a painted travel case monogrammed with her name — highlight her joyful ‘more is more’ aesthetic. 

Long a fixture of the fashion world, Apfel became a household name in 2005 with Rara Avis: Selections from the Iris Barrel Apfel Collection, an exhibition of her wardrobe at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. The show marked the first exhibition where the Costume Institute had featured a living person who was not a fashion designer. After Rara Avis (meaning ‘rare bird’), Apfel’s star continued to rise as she collaborated with brands from MAC Cosmetics to Swarovski and H&M.

An icon in her ninth decade

In 2014, when Apfel was 93, she was the focus of Albert Maysles’ documentary Iris. In 2018, she modelled for Vogue, and Mattel released a Barbie in her name. In 2019, she signed as a model to IMG at 97. Her Instagram account boasts more than three million followers.

‘Don’t listen to the experts,’ she once mused. ‘Listen to yourself. Listen to what you love. You will not make a mistake.’ The clothes she wore and the objects with which she surrounded herself affirm this sentiment. In celebration of her centenary, Apfel wore a vintage Norman Norell gown for a Zenni Optical campaign. This piece from the 1960s epitomised her penchant for enduring style.

Pairing the unexpected

Apfel’s eye was not limited to her sartorial choices; Christie’s upcoming Unapologetically Iris sale also encapsulates her incomparable interiors. Paintings, sculpture, furniture and decorative objects illustrate the unique maximalist aesthetic that Apfel brought to every area of her life. From a suite of charming paintings of dogs to a Louis XVI-style chaise reupholstered with her own portrait, Apfel’s style was always bold and never without humour. With unexpected pairings, like a Kermit the Frog stuffed animal perched atop a wooden ostrich sculpture, there was personality at the heart of everything she did. The ostrich, which doubled as a hidden bar, was specially commissioned by Apfel.

Above all, Apfel celebrated creativity, artistry and self-expression. She had a universal quality that inspired countless people around the world and across generations. She was a force who will be remembered not only for her exuberant authenticity but for making fashion fun, delighting in dressing and never, ever taking herself too seriously.

All archival imagery courtesy of the consignor