Iris Apfel

Iris Barrel was born in Astoria, Queens, New York City, into a Jewish family. She studied art history at New York University and attended art school at the University of Wisconsin before marrying Carl Apfel in 1948. Together, they founded Old World Weavers in 1950, a prestigious textile firm specializing in reproducing antique fabrics, which they operated until their retirement in 1992.

Through Old World Weavers, Apfel consulted on White House interior restoration contracts for nine consecutive United States presidents, from Harry S. Truman to Bill Clinton. In 2005, at age 84, she became an overnight global fashion superstar when the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute mounted a landmark exhibition devoted entirely to her personal wardrobe, Rara Avis (Rare Bird): The Irreverent Iris Apfel. Calling herself a "geriatric starlet," Apfel modeled for major fashion magazines and was the subject of Albert Maysles' 2014 documentary Iris.