The fashion world lost a legend in March this year. Iris Apfel, who lived until the grand old age of 102, was a rare breed of fashion eccentric whose colorful legacy, iconic signature style, incredible story and life, not only hit a chord, it enchanted the entire world. Fashion mavericks like the legendary Apfel stand out because pushing style boundaries is like breathing to them — entirely natural — they don't even try. With her close crop of white hair, the black glasses that enlarged her eyes and her penchant for feathers, she was the consummate fashion bird, a peacock who made maximalism a way of life. One of her oft-quoted bon mots is "Great personal style is an extreme curiosity about yourself." It's a sentiment that resonates in a time when the conversation turns so often to authenticity. Luckily, there are several fellow unconventional fashion luminaries to take on the mantle.
It's not every day an octogenarian gets a retrospective of her closet at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. But that's exactly what Apfel received in 2004, the first non-designer to be featured. Apfel wasn't your everyday octogenarian or human for that matter. A force of nature, a bohemian in the truest sense, an interior designer with a loving husband (how her documentary Iris hit an emotional chord cannot be overstated), a lover of bangle bracelets, a keeper of a hit signature piece — those oversized black framed glasses — a New Yorker, an ace shopper and a born-and-bred fashion lover (her mother owned a boutique in Queens). For someone to hit the zeitgeist as deeply as Apfel did is because she was sharing her truth with the world — and her medium was style.
