From the fashion icon, “a joyous, colorful collection of photographs; drawings; reflections; and personal mottos on marriage, business, fame and style” (Boca Raton Observer).
The late great Iris Apfel was a woman who transcended time and trends—one of the most original and dynamic personalities in the worlds of fashion, textiles, and interior design. Written a few years before her passing at age 102, this is a lavishly illustrated memoir in which she shares her musings, anecdotes, and incomparable wisdom.
As the cofounder with her husband of Old World Weavers, an international textile manufacturing company that specialized in reproducing antique fabrics, she served a prestigious clientele including Greta Garbo, Estee Lauder, Montgomery Clift, and Joan Rivers. She also acted as a restoration consultant and replicated fabric for the White House over nine presidential administrations. Iris’s worldwide travels and devotion to flea markets inspired her work and fueled her passion for collecting fashion and accessories. In 2005, she was the first living person who was not a designer to have her clothing and accessories exhibited at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a blockbuster show that catapulted her to fame and a career as a model, muse, and collaborator for renowned brands from Citroen to Tag Heuer. In 2015, acclaimed director Albert Maysles released Iris, his Emmy Award-nominated documentary, to a global audience.
This celebratory volume captures her unique joie de vivre and features 180 full-color and black-and-white photos and illustrations—presented in the same improvisational, multifaceted style that made Iris a much-loved legend.
“It’s hard to resist this self-proclaimed ‘geriatric starlet.’ With her owlish glasses, loud prints and necklaces upon necklaces, even in her 90s, Apfel is a fashion icon who combines a memoir with photos of the vibrant contents of her closets.” —The New York Times Book Review
Iris Apfel is a renowned collector of and authority on antique textiles. In 1950, she and her husband, Carl Apfel, founded Old World Weavers, an international textile manufacturing company specializing in reproducing antique fabrics for an elite clientele. She was also a consultant to the White House during nine presidential administrations and produced fabric that still hangs in the Gold Room today. In 2005, the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art staged Rara Avis, a blockbuster exhibit of her clothing and accessories, making her the first living person who was not a fashion designer to be so honored. Since then she has been featured in numerous publications in print and online and has collaborated with and been the face of numerous brands and retailers. She was also the subject of director Albert Maysles’ award-winning film Iris. She sells Rara Avis, her line of clothing and accessories, on the Home Shopping Network. An associate professor at the University of Texas who teaches students about the fashion industry, she is the recipient of numerous awards, including a special award from the Women Together Foundation at the United Nations for her lifelong dedication and support of artisans around the world and for her inspiration as a true original to artists and designers of all generations and from all walks of life.
