EXCLUSIVE: Iris Apfel’s Personal Collection Is Up for Auction
“I’m a color person. I’ve never been one to play it safe,” Iris Apfel told WWD in 2012.
Indeed, among the more than 200 pieces going up for auction at Christie’s later this month are the late interior designer’s turquoise jewelry; a lime green figurine depicting her on a scooter; a pink, red and yellow Carolina Herrera ensemble, and 18 pairs of eyeglasses, not one of them plain black.
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“She embraced the philosophy that ‘more is more,’ but neither her fashion nor interiors ever seemed weighed down by the maximalist choices that drove her style and sensibility,” said Elizabeth Seigel, head of private and iconic collections at Christie’s, which is conducting online bidding from Jan. 28 to Feb. 13.
(Recent sales of the collections of Andre Leon Talley, Elton John and Mica Ertegun also fall under Christie’s “private and iconic collections.”)
The Iris Apfel auction, with proceeds going to a charitable trust, is expected to garner at least $250,000. Reflecting her eclectic taste and high-low aesthetic, the lots stretch from flea-market finds and garments from her 2021 H&M collaboration all the way up to a Dior haute couture feathered coat.
The top lot is a carved bar, circa 1975, in the form of an ostrich, which is estimated to fetch between $6,000 and $8,000. Apfel had affectionally called the quirky object Gussy. Bidding on all lots is to begin at $100.
“We also had fun recreating the looks from the 2018 Barbie Mattel collaboration, which we are selling together with the matching dolls,” Siegel said.
The sale, titled “Unapologetically Iris: The Personal Collection of Iris Apfel,” comes less than a year after the interior designer and businesswoman died at age 102, and reflects her twilight years as a style icon, influencer and face of numerous fashion brands.
The optical frames, for example, are from the Iris Apfel X Zenni collaboration, one of many that took place the year of her centenary.
Fashions and accessories anchor the sale, with items dating from the ’50s up to the present. There are also artworks, chairs, decorative items and a round suitcase painted with stripes and pink dots.
Select items from the sale are to go on display at Christie’s in Miami on Jan. 24 and 25, at Christie’s in Palm Beach from Jan. 29 to 31, and at Christie’s New York from Feb. 8 to 12.
“Across all categories, it is a riot of color, texture and style which span various eras and geographies, tied together by a playful wit and sense of humor,” Siegel said, summing up the collection as “joyful.”
Apfel was prized as an eclectic collector and expert in antique textiles. In 1950, she started a textile company, Old World Weavers, with her husband Carl, who died in 2015.
Aside from having a hand in nine restoration projects at the White House during her career, Apfel racked up her share of ad campaigns in recent years including Kate Spade, MAC Cosmetics, Alexis Bittar, HSN and Le Bon Marché.
“Iris Apfel was a fiercely original figure, even within the realm of fashion world creatives,” Siegel said in an interview. “In addition to having a bold and immediately recognizable signature style, Iris changed the way the world thought about fashion, just by existing in the space as an older woman.”
With her trademark oversize glasses, red lipstick and short cropped gray hair, Apfel’s status as a fashion icon lives on, with Dr. Scholl’s recently unfurling a limited-edition shoe collection designed with some of her archival prints.
Siegel argued Apfel’s unique style was driven by her “personal sense of style, color, layering, adventure and fun. Her looks were bold, unique and inspiring. She herself said, ‘I’m constantly asked for style advice. I hate to give guidelines because what works for one person is not necessarily going to work for another. But here’s what I believe. The worst fashion faux pas is looking in the mirror and seeing somebody else.'”
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