For the Love of Style
January 2008
In 2005, a most extraordinary one-woman show took place at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It was barely publicized and went unnoticed by many. But, as is often the case, news of the exhibition, which highlighted the knockout clothing, jewelry and accessories of interior designer, consummate collector and fashion icon Iris Barrel Apfel, spread by word of mouth. Attracting about 120,000 viewers, it became the talk of the town, a show that those of us who caught it will never forget.It featured more than 80 elegant ensembles coordinated with wit and élan—a veritable feast for the eye. Just imagine a circa-1989 haute couture hot-pink jacket by Lanvin, accessorized with heavy ropes of American Indian turquoise jewelry—oversized necklaces and stacks of bangles piled on with chic abandon; an A-line coat, matching duffle bag and high boots custom-tailored in the 1960s by a Venetian contessa from woven tiger-patterned upholstery fabric; and vintage Krizia layered over a hand-embroidered Chinese Qing dynasty silk-damask court skirt embellished with a 6-foot-long Mandarin macramé necklace of cornelian and jade beads. Each statement reflected the personal style of a world traveler who has not only a discerning eye and impeccable color sense, but also a quirky flair combined with undeniable confidence.
When the curators of the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida, saw the show, they raved, too. Iris and her husband, Carl, have had a home in Palm Beach for decades, so it was a natural to bring the show to this venue. Titled "Rare Bird of Fashion: The Irreverent Iris Apfel," this version displayed 82 fashion statements from her collection. The book of the same title, recently published by Thames & Hudson with vivid photographs by Eric Boman, is a must-have for those who love vintage fashion and jewelry.
Iris Apfel is an original. Now in her mid-80s, her enthusiasm and vitality remain undiminished. She is fearless when it comes to collecting, and her strength, whether in décor or clothing, is her audacious ability to mix disparate periods, styles and objects together into a gorgeous whole. She and Carl, who were married in 1948, have been business partners, traveling companions and co-acquisitors for more than 60 years; their experiences together are reflected in their homes in New York City and Palm Beach.
Their city apartment is like a Venetian jewel box decorated with collections of every kind, from Old Master prints and 19th-century European dog paintings and portraits to antique accessories including carved Italian mirrors, hand-painted French screens, Neapolitan pastori, needlepoint pillows and textiles. The most fabulous room has all the furniture pushed to one side to accommodate a part of the vast collection of clothing and accessories from which the exhibit was culled. Closets and armoires are filled with treasures; the couple also maintains warehouses filled to the brim. Musing on her perpetual shortage of space, Iris wryly comments, "My husband said he was lucky I didn’t make him sleep in a drawer."
From the time she was a child, Iris has loved beautiful things. Her grandmother was always making clothes for Iris’s mother and her many aunts, and her grandfather was a master tailor. As the first grandchild, she grew up as the focus of a close family. "I remember sitting on the floor in a hallway outside of my grandmother’s bedroom," Iris recalls. "She would take several bags filled with fabric swatches out of her closet and let me play with them. When I put together combinations that I liked, she let me take them home. I’ve been collecting fabric swatches ever since, and it’s how I started developing an eye for beauty."
Though her mother went to law school, she always loved fashion and opened her first boutique in Queens when Iris was a teenager. It was during these years, with her mother working long hours, that Iris became an independent world-class shopper. In the early days her fashion beat included names and places any New Yorker will recognize—S. Klein on Union Square and Ohrbach’s on 34th Street, all the way down to artsy Greenwich Village where Iris bought her first accessory, a 65-cent rhinestone brooch. After college, she had a series of jobs in the fashion industry, which prompted her to start an interior design business with a friend.In the 1950s, Carl and Iris started Old World Weavers, which became famous for making reproductions of fine antique textiles. A small mill in Italy wove the custom fabrics that Iris wanted and was unable to find. In the beginning, the Apfels didn’t have a showroom but worked out of a heavy sample-filled suitcase Carl fitted with wheels so that it could more easily navigate the streets of New York when he was visiting customers. "If we had patented this suitcase with wheels," Iris declares, "we could have retired years ago!"
In order to save space, Iris sewed all the colored silk fabric swatches into one long piece. When Carl showed this ombréd sample to the famous decorator Dorothy Draper, she thought it was one piece of fabric and said it was the most spectacular stripe she had ever seen. She went on to order hundreds of yards of it, and the Apfels’ business took off.
It was then, in the 1950s, that they began their world travels, looking for design inspiration and seeking out specialized mills to weave their extraordinary fabrics. Iris’s eclectic collecting instinct kicked into high gear. Each year, the couple traveled for at least three months when globe-trotting was at its most glamorous—often cruising on legendary transatlantic ships like the S.S. France to Europe, the Near East, North Africa, Greece and Turkey. Iris attended the couture collections in Paris where, being a sample size, she could obtain originals from designers such as Dior and Balenciaga at substantial savings. She was no snob and loved bargains (she still adores Loehmann’s). She says that "in the early 1950s, a flea market was really a flea market," and haunted the marché aux puces in Paris and Bermondsey in London for inspiration—precious 18th-century French laces, rich Italian velvets and silk damasks, ancient hand-woven tapestry pieces and crisp 19th-century French toiles. "If you liked old textiles, it was like a club," says Iris. "Treasures could be found everywhere."
No place was out of bounds—from souks to hidden quarters where artisans resided, the Apfels collected everything, especially the objects and antiques needed for their new, elegant showroom on 57th Street. Originally the antiques were meant to accessorize the fabrics, but from the first moment, clients wanted them, too. The business, which worked on restoration projects in the White House through nine presidents, has been sold to the Stark Carpet Company, but the Apfels are still involved.
Iris continues to buy clothes, now from hot contemporary designers like her favorites, Ralph Rucci, Michael Vollbracht and Dolce & Gabbana, in addition to haunting her favorite antiques shops from New York City to West Palm Beach for new pieces to add to her collections. Her offbeat style spans generations. "If an object gives you pleasure, then collect it," Iris advises. "You are the one who is going to live with it. Remember, there are no rules."
Barbara Milo Ohrbach, Art & Antiques’ Editor at Large, is the author of 21 books, including A Passion for Antiques and Dreaming of Tuscany.