Happy 102nd birthday to fashion darling, Iris Apfel!
On Tuesday, the style icon spent her special day with several friends, including Christie Brinkley. For her birthday, the 69-year-old supermodel posted a sweet poem along with photos and videos of the legendary New York City-based interior designer.
“Happy Birthday to Iris! She’s 102 and she’s got more style Than me and you! She the Queen of fashion who gets better every year And todays her birthday did you hear?,” wrote Brinkley. “She’s got her trademark glasses and a wardrobe of fun and we wish her every happiness under the sun. She’s smart snd savvy snd [sic] extremely witty and she wants everyone to know that individuality’s always pretty, that we should all be ourselves one of a kind.”
Brinkley added, “Good advice like that’s hard to find so thank you Iris for all you do. To say to people ‘you do you!’ (Like you do so well! ). Happy Birthday Iris! We LOVE YOU!””
Apfel celebrated with an intimate dinner at Tutto il Giorno in The Hamptons, New York. Other guests included fashion mogul Donna Karan and Brinkley’s daughter, Alexa Ray Joel. The women gave Apfel gorgeous birthday gifts, including necklaces and a purse.
Apfel celebrated her own birthday via Instagram with a festive photo set to Kool & The Gang’s “Celebration.” She wrote, “102 TODAY… who would’ve thought!!”
Apfel was in business with her husband, Carl, from 1950 to 1992, and had a career in textiles, including a contract with the White House that spanned nine presidencies. In retirement, she drew acclaim for a 2005 show at the Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art featuring her collection of costume jewelry and styled with clothes on mannequins as she would wear it. She has become a fashion icon, and signed to IMG in 2019 as a model at age 97. In 2014, she was the subject of the documentary Iris by Albert Maysles.
Apfel did not have children with her late husband Carl, whom she was married to for nearly 70 years before his death in 2015.
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