Meet Iris Apfel, The Oldest Fashion Icon Whose Eclectic Style of Living is Too Cool to Handle

Iris Apfel, calls herself the oldest living teenager and very rightly so. Dispelling age related myths, the 101-year-old American businesswoman is an inspiration to many.

Donning a riot of colours, oversized frames and larger-than-life zeal, Iris is the self-proclaimed oldest teenager one can ever meet. She is all things colours, quirks and a truckload of energy.  Iris is a 101-year-old, American businesswoman and the oldest fashion stylist on earth. She is mostly seen wearing vibrant hues, styled with some sizeable beaded neckpieces and unmissable accessories and not to forget her large framed- spectacles. With an infectious energy, she is probably the last person to wear down on energy for the day.  Her philosophy on life is one of another life lessons to gauge from an experience and wisdom of 100 plus years! How long is that?

Recently, she posted a video on her Instagram that especially got hold of our attention. Iris’ take on life is to live by. Her eclectic sense of living makes her the epitome of a face that is crushing the myths of ageism inch by inch. Apfel’s bio is probably way cooler than any of the Gen z readers here. It reads,” More is more and less is bore (iyifyk).

‘GET OLD BUT DON’T GET BORING…’

Iris Apfel has a colourful Instagram feed that will make you want to scroll more and smile along the way. A glimpse of it:

A BRIEF INTO HER WORK TIMELINE

“An American original in the truest sense, Iris Apfel is one of the most vivacious personalities in the worlds of fashion, textiles, and interior design, and over the past 40 years, she has cultivated a personal style that is both witty and exuberantly idiosyncratic,” the Metropolitan Museum of art said about Apfel. “Her originality is typically revealed in her mixing of high and low fashions – Dior haute couture with flea market finds, 19th-century ecclesiastical vestments with Dolce & Gabbana lizard trousers.”

Apfel has been in the fashion realm from the beginning and has held on to her passion till date. Here is a brief into the timeline of the “geriatric starlet,” as she once called herself:

• She got into business with her husband Carl Apfel sometime around 1950. They had a textile firm and it ran until they retired in 1992. Right from the start, the Apfels were known to work with the lesser-known things and re-produced fashion of the 17-19 century. She was married 67 years to Carl who passed away in 2015.
• She is also reported to have been in association with the White House for almost nine presidencies.
• The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art curated a show and exhibit displaying the collection of Iris Apfel style.  The mannequin was styled in clothes and jewellery as Apfel would wear it.
• At the age of 97, she signed a modelling contract ( say whaaa!?) with global agency IMG – International Management Group.
• Iris has also been featured in a documentary by Albery Maysles called ‘Iris.’
• In 2018, the fashion icon published her biography – ‘Iris Apfel-AnAccidental Icon.’

To all those aspiring models and everyone who thinks that they are too old t start out remodelling or any other work sphere, sit back and think again because when you have the fire of passion burning as bright and happy as Iris, nothing can stop you.

UNAPOLOGETIC FASHION ICON, IRIS BREAKS AGEISM BARRIERS

First things first, what is ‘Ageism?’ The term was first coined by Dr. Robert Neil Butler, an American Psychiatrist, in 1969, elaborating on the discrimination against senior citizens. According to Butler, ageism was a combination of things that disengages older people from institutional practises policies perpetuating stereotypes about elderly people. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines ageism as, “Age is one of the first things we notice about other people. However, age is often used to categorize and divide people in ways that lead to harm, disadvantage and injustice and erode solidarity across generations. This is ageism: the stereotypes (how we think), prejudice (how we feel) and discrimination (how we act) towards others or ourselves based on age. Ageism is pervasive, affects people of all ages from childhood onwards and has serious and far-reaching consequences for people’s health, well-being and human rights.”

Now, Iris here plays a major role in dispelling all the age-related stereotypes. She embodies the phrase, “age is just a number,” because it is. There is no stopping for the will to live life colourful and queen-sized!

Who says that old people cannot be as colourful? Who says that people after a certain age should act as their age and not indulge in activities like experimenting with their fashion wear? Nobody said, but society definitely put them in a box. And Iris lives outside the box encouraging people to break those four walls and to go wild.

Here is what people think of her and how she is inspiring people from all ages.

If I live long enough, I want to be like Iris Apfel. Look how beautiful. pic.twitter.com/JS08844xmD

— A.S. Hashmi (@hashmiwriting) June 8, 2023

Apfel has a fan following from all ages.

Iris Apfel in Iris (2014), one of my all-time favorite documentaries! She is now 101 years old btw! ???? pic.twitter.com/SmPWypVUfa

— Nicole on Wheels ????????️‍???? (@holyspacemonkey) June 12, 2023

One of the Twitter users wrote, Iris Apfel is 101 years old. The oldest stylist in the world. It’s eccentric. The Art World has this aspect in a positive and non-possessive way. Joy has to be part of us, whether we are conservative or avant-garde. Let us be renovators of our Being and revolutionaries in our Want.”

Iris Apfel tem 101 anos. A +velha stylist no mundo. É excêntrica. O Mundo da Arte tem esta vertente de forma positiva e não possessiva. A alegria tem de fazer parte de nós, sejamos conservadores ou vanguardistas. Sejamos renovadores do nosso Ser e revolucionários no nosso Querer. pic.twitter.com/538SStiOP8

— Leonor Arnao Metello (@ArnaoMetello) June 8, 2023

She is simply inspiring people to not exist with thrive in life.

I share a birthday with this icon and I hope to be as amazing and glamorous as Iris Apfel one day. pic.twitter.com/RtToUsMbHS

— Ariele ???? (@ArielethePotato) June 7, 2023

While these are just a few, the comment section on her recent video is a hub where people are sharing their stories and aspiring to be as lively as Iris. Her recent video has went viral on the internet!

Iris Apfel is a true inspiration. Her indomitable spirit is just too cool to handle. She is probably cooler in her living and thoughts that Gen Z. There is and should not be an expiration date to the way one wishes to live, better and thrive.

Ageing is a natural process, it is a rite of passage. However, it is not a problem that requires a solution. It is just another level in the game of life with different hurdles, but none that one cannot overcome.

So carpe diem because two digits of your age cannot determine your will! And Iris says

Get old, don’t get boring!