The US fashion icon Iris Apfel, known for her extraordinary fashion style and sharp-tongued humor, is dead. The native New Yorker, who stood out with her large, round glasses, colorful costumes and a short white haircut, was 102 years old. Her manager Lori Sale confirmed the fashion icon’s death to the German Press Agency on Friday (local time). March 1st was also listed as the date of death on Apfel’s Instagram page. Numerous followers of the deceased expressed their sadness and paid tribute to the fashion legend’s achievements: “You have mastered the art of life. Thank you for your energy and inspiration,” wrote the US singer and actor Lenny Kravitz.
Born on August 29, 1921, Apfel began a successful career as an interior designer and textile expert after studying art history. She worked as a designer team with her husband Carl, whom she married in 1948. Among other things, the two advised nine US presidents on the furnishing of the White House. The diva only had her breakthrough as a style icon when she was over 80 years old. She came into the spotlight in 2005 with a successful exhibition of her fashion and jewelry collection at New York’s Metropolitan Museum. Even after her husband’s death in 2015, she continued to work well into old age, designing a collection of glasses together with a manufacturer and working with a US hardware store chain on designs for room decorations.