Paris fashion bows before ‘geriatric starlet’ Iris Apfel, 94
World’s most chic nonagenarian, subject of a biographical film, takes Paris Fashion week by storm
Move over Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner. The real star of Paris fashion week is a wisecracking 94-year-old New Yorker.
“Someone once told me, ’You are not pretty, and you never will be,’” Iris Apfel joked as she was whisked between a reception in her honour and yet another catwalk show. “But it doesn’t matter. You have something else – you have style.”
The flamboyant interior designer who was a fixture on front rows of Paris fashion shows for half a century is again the toast of the town.
Her individual style is the subject an exhibition at the posh Parisian department store, Le Bon Marche, and she is the star of a new advertising campaign for Citroen, as well as the face of the Australian label Blue Illusion’s “Ageless” range.
Immediately recognisable by her oversized owlish glasses, Apfel’s fame spread beyond the style pages after the success of Albert Maysles’ 2014 documentary about her, Iris.
It helped to turn her into what she calls a “geriatric starlet”, with everyone from Alexander Wang to Kanye West declaring themselves fans of the world’s most chic nonagenarian.
“She represents the epitome of style and elegance. She’s perfection,” says American DJ and model Leigh Lezark.