If you ever thought that turning 101 years old would be dreary, dull and depressing, turn your gaze to Iris Apfel – the fashion influencer who is quite literally older than sliced bread, with 2.4 million followers.
Social media’s only for the young? Apfel disagrees – and has created an entire brand identity around her disagreement.
“More is more & less is a bore,” says Apfel whose posts capitalise on breaking ageing stereotypes especially when it comes to fashion.
For Apfel, it’s more about being stylish than being fashionable.
“Being stylish and being fashionable are two entirely different things,” she shared in a video that’s since gone viral for three reasons Apfel’s audience adores – she’s authentic, daring and refuses to conform.
When she turned 100, Apfel shared in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar that if someone told her 10 years ago she’d be doing this, she would’ve laughed and said ‘you’re nuts!'”
@iris.apfel/Instagram
Well, we’re ever grateful that she did decide to embark on a social media led-career, and our feeds are all the better for it.
As per the interview, Apfel’s fashion career was bolstered by her copywriter position at Women’s Wear Daily. She and her husband Carl Apfel launched a textile company ‘Old World Weavers’ side by side not long after, where their cliental included high-profile projects including those on the White House.
@iris.apfel/Instagram
The pair retired in the early 90s, but this was only the beginning of Apfel’s rise individually.
Her work in collecting textiles has earned her an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, placing her in the public eye. In her words, her first “big job” in beauty and fashion came at the “tender age of 90” when she worked with MAC to make a cosmetics range she shared with cnbc.
@iris.apfel/Instagram
People couldn’t get enough of Apfel and her eccentric chic, so much so that Mattel made a barbie doll in her honour.
Mattel
A born and raised New Yorker, Apfel carried her tough cookie nature throughout all of her eras, and social media is no different. Her posts are authentic, glamorous and bold in a way that could only belong to Iris Apfel.
For her 101st birthday, Apfel shared a cheeky “who woulda thought it?!” caption to the tune of Kool & The Gang’s Celebration that saw everyone from Viola Davis to barbie and even rapper Lil Yatchy wish her.
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So, if you’re dreading those ‘golden years’ of ageing, take a few cues from Iris Apfel, who became the real 90s icon.
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Feature Image: @iris.apfel/Instagram
