113
Reagan, and Bill Clinton. But even with all of her distinguished accolades and accomplishments, outside of the White House and interior design industry, she remained virtually unknown.
That all changed in 2005, about a month past her 83rd birthday when the Metropolitan Museum of New York learned of her life-long design work and noticed her unique personal fashion style, and decided to do an exhibit featuring part of her mammoth wardrobe collection. The exhibit, titled Rara Avis (Rare Bird): The Irreverent Iris Apfel, was an overnight success and got rave reviews, instantly catapulting her to celebrity atop of the fashion world! People like Karl Lagerfeld, Carla Fendi, and Giorgo Armani were on hand when the exhibit opened. The industry was buzzing about the little old lady with the bold unique style and larger-than-life round thick-framed glasses. “The Met decided to do a show on my style,” she explains, “and then all of a sudden I became very cool, very hot.”
The show was so popular and well-received that it was turned into a traveling exhibit, which then lead to the Home Shopping Network (HSN) approaching her to develop a fashion line, also named “Rare Avis.” In the years to follow she would become the face of MAC cosmetics, Kate Spade, be featured on countless magazine covers, star in two documentaries (one of which was about her life and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Albert Maysles), be the subject two best-selling fashion books, and now become the author of her own fashion book and memoire. Quite remarkable for anyone at any age, let alone a 97 year old who didn’t start her fashion career until she was in her mid-eighties. And what does she think about modern trends and the (Continued)