Entertainment
Iris Apfel, beloved style icon whose fame peaked in her 90s, dies at 102
Iris Apfel, the beloved fashion icon and interior designer whose eccentric style inspired individuality, creativity and joy, has died, according to a post on her official Instagram account. She was 102.
Known for her bold accessories, oversize round glasses and “totally mad” outfits, Apfel never let age slow her down. She was 84 when the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art launched an exhibition showcasing her extensive collection of garments and costume jewelry, earning her global recognition and adoration.
She was 93 when she starred in her own documentary, “Iris,” from filmmaker Albert Maysles. His portrayal of Apfel was “graced with an unforced but unmistakable charm,” wrote Times film critic Kenneth Turan in 2015.
And she was 96 when she published “Iris Apfel: Accidental Icon,” and 97 when she signed a modeling contract with global agency IMG Models, garnering the same representation as supermodels Gigi Hadid, Karlie Kloss and Kate Moss.
She was, in her own words, a “geriatric starlet.”
Her interior design company, Old World Weavers, was contracted with the White House and spanned nine presidencies. She also collaborated with major brands including H&M and Mattel.
But her impact extended beyond the fashion and design industries. She inspired people to embrace their individuality, to express themselves without fear of judgment and to find fun in the otherwise mundane, according to her admirers, who she said wrote her many letters.
Those who worked with and around her noticed Apfel’s undeniable spark of energy and wit. In Maysles’ film, photographer Bruce Weber, who said Apfel was one of his favorite subjects, recalled his first time meeting her.
“There were all kinds of people, all ages, all walks of life all surrounding her, she was so engaging to everybody,” he said. “I could feel the pulse of her life, of her excitement about living.”
Apfel was energized by daring fashion, and more so by the process of assembling a look, from hunting for individual pieces to mixing and matching. She was known for combining high- and low-end items and concocting dazzling ensembles that contradicted themselves in all the right ways.
“I’m just as happy to wear bangles that cost me three dollars as I am to wear valuable pieces,” she wrote in her book, “Iris Apfel: Accidental Icon.”
Her collection, which filled multiple rooms in multiple apartments, contained a waistcoat adorned with colored goose feathers and a chunky beaded necklace so large it looked like it might tip its wearer over. Apfel was an experimental trailblazer, reveling in creating looks never seen before.
“It’s not that I went out of my way to be a rebel or do things that were not socially acceptable,” she wrote, “but I learned early on that I have to be my own person to be content. … I dress for myself.”
Her fashion sense was joyfully eclectic and, according to former Times fashion critic Booth Moore, “a tsunami of style.”
“I like big and bold and lots of pizzazz,” Apfel said in her documentary.
Despite her cult-like following, Apfel said she never meant to become famous. She gained recognition for unapologetically being herself: “Nothing I ever did I intended to do,” she said. “It just kind of happened.”
Born Iris Barrel in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, N.Y., in 1921, Apfel had a professional decorator for a father; her mother was a fashion boutique owner who “worshiped at the altar of the accessory.” Apfel would take the subway into Manhattan as a child and fell in love with Greenwich Village, where she began collecting an assortment of stylish pieces.
She was about 11 or 12 years old when she bought her first piece from a small shop in the basement of an old-fashioned tenement building. It was a brooch that she had fixated on and she saved 65 cents to make the purchase.
The brooch was a catalyst for her world-famous collection that eventually grew into an overflowing, international melting pot of jewelry, accessories and apparel.
Apfel studied art history at New York University and went on to attend art school at the University of Wisconsin. After graduating, she worked as a copywriter for the fashion trade journal Women’s Wear Daily.
She met her husband, Carl Apfel, on a Lake George, N.Y., vacation in 1947. They married a year later. She wore a pink lace wedding dress, she said, because she wanted a garment she could wear again that she wouldn’t have to put away in a box.
“There was something about her that just got into me,” Carl Apfel said in “Iris.” “It’s not a dull marriage, I can tell you that.”
The two were married 67 years when Carl Apfel died in 2015, three days before his 101st birthday. They had no children.
“We never wanted to,” she explained in “Iris.” “You can’t have everything. And I wanted a career and I wanted to travel.”
The Apfels co-founded their textile company, Old World Weavers, in 1950. The couple ran the business together for 42 years until they sold the company in 1992.
Old World Weavers specialized in making exact reproductions of fabrics from the 17th century onward. In the process, Apfel traveled to Turkey, Lebanon, Morocco and Europe twice a year to find textiles and weavers for their projects.
They created special fabrics for the White House across multiple administrations, including the presidencies of Truman, Kennedy and Nixon.
“Every great house in America has our stuff,” Apfel said of Old World Weavers.
Apfel was well known in the trade, but she was catapulted to fashion stardom in 2005 when the Metropolitan Museum of Art showcased her wardrobe and jewelry in a Costume Institute exhibition titled “Rara Avis: Selections From the Iris Apfel Collection.”
The exhibition, whose name translates to “rare bird,” included more than 80 styled ensembles and consisted of 300-plus accessories that Apfel had amassed over decades.
The initial idea was to showcase her costume jewelry alone, but the museum later asked Apfel to dip into her own wardrobe to style the mannequins that the jewelry would adorn. The result was a small army of Apfel’s creations: colorful, big and entirely unique.
The show “had people chattering with a heat and enthusiasm rare in the fashion world,” the New York Times reported in 2005.
Apfel’s style required both an educated visual sense and a great deal of courage, said Harold Koda, the curator in charge of the Costume Institute at the time of the exhibition. Her showcase was the first time the museum held an exhibit about clothing that was centered around a living person who wasn’t a designer.
The ensembles traveled to the Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach, Fla.; the Nassau County Museum of Art in New York; and the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass.
After the exhibition, Apfel’s life became a whirlwind of photo shoots, media appearances and high-profile collaborations. In 2011, she was appointed visiting professor at the University of Texas at Austin in the division of textiles and apparel.
Soaring into her 90s, Apfel starred in Maysles’ documentary, published her book and signed a modeling contract. In 2018, El Segundo-based toy company Mattel released a Barbie doll in Apfel’s image, making her the oldest person ever to have a Barbie based on them.
Apfel, whose looks transcended time and trends, knew no limits when it came to accessorizing and decorating: “If you hang around long enough, everything comes back,” she said at 93.
However, the influential style icon never told other people how to dress or how to live. Nor was she a fan of showcasing her life on social media, she wrote in her book, despite having a verified Instagram account with 2.9 million followers at the time of her death.
“Not only do I not do social media,” she wrote, “I don’t approve of it. What I eat, what I’m doing, where I’m going — that’s nobody’s business.”
And although Apfel said she was “constantly” asked for fashion advice, she hated giving guidelines. “The worst fashion faux pas is looking in the mirror and seeing somebody else,” she wrote.
As for her own fashion sense, Apfel said she relied on her instincts.
“It’s not intellectual, it’s all gut,” she said in the documentary. “I don’t have any rules because I would only be breaking them.”
Apfel is survived by her nephew, Billy Apfel.
Arts
Supergirl
Director: Craig Gillespie
DC Studios, Troll Court Entertainment, The Sagan Company
In theaters: 06.26.2026
I was a pretty big fan of James Gunn’s Superman. Building up to the release of the film, I relapsed into my comic book obsession, which I had laid to rest many years prior. I read whatever you get recommended when you look up “Superman comic recommendations:” For All Seasons, All Star, Birthright — whatever, you don’t care. David Corenswet’s portrayal of Big Blue was loving, thorough and unbelievably human, which is what Superman is (he’s not Jesus). He is the best of us. He is what we aspire to be.
Supergirl was announced, and I picked up the comic it was based on: Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. The questionable morals and talent of author Tom King aside, the book is good! The fantastic art by Bilquis Evely makes King’s (sometimes preachy) prose this beautiful and somber story about trauma and war. It appears that I’m ahead of director Craig Gillespie, who reportedly didn’t read the book and, boy, does it show.
During a bender, Superman’s cousin Kara (Milly Alcock, House of The Dragon) meets Ruthye (Eve Ridley), a child whose family is murdered by Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts, Amsterdam, The Old Guard), the leader of a raider group. She enlists Kara to hunt and kill him, and on their way, they confront their traumas.
Every change made from the original comic was for the worse. Most notably, this film simplifies the depth of the comic’s characters. Kara is reduced to a loud, charming alcoholic, which is fine, but in the comic, she’s somber and reflective, making an effort to teach Ruthye how the greater universe works. The antagonist, Krem, is sort of a loser in the comic. He’s a coward who spends his time running away, while in the film he’s a tattooed, pierced, menacing psychopath who appears in almost every major action sequence. He’s almost indistinguishable from The Joker — this all boils down to shame. While they’re becoming increasingly popular, comics are still for losers. Hinting at depth with characters who fly and shoot lasers from their eyes in brightly colored underpants isn’t something that a general audience will accept. They will accept a comic film so long as it constantly flogs itself for being comic-inspired.
Another bastardization is the look of this film. Everly’s amazing use of color in the comic makes the story so engaging. How is this translated? Brown. Just brown. When characters clash, it looks like someone’s wiping their finger across their dirt-covered lens, which is a total departure from Gunn’s fantastic color palette in Superman. The visual effects appear to be rushed and often look horrible — laughably horrible, as a matter of fact. How do you spot a bad action director? Look at the editing. If they have to hide poor action choreography and bad visual effects behind dizzying amounts of cuts, they’re bad. Gillespie is a bad action director. James Gunn promised that the DCU would prioritize artist voice over universal coherence, but if these are the artists he’s hiring, I’m not sure how long this could last.
Performances here are whatever. Alcock could have been good if the script and direction were right, but they’re not. I couldn’t get into Krem due to character assassination, but even if I wasn’t into the comic, I would find his performance as a crazy guy to be a standard for bad superhero movies. Ridley is good, especially for a debut in feature films, but the standout is Jason Momoa (Aquaman, A Minecraft Movie) as Lobo. He is loving the character, absolutely chewing up the scene with thick cigars. He’s a little cheesy-edgy, but that’s just what he is in the comics, so I won’t knock him for it.
While I was watching the film, I was suffering from a discrepancy. Supergirl is as powerful as Superman, but throughout this film, she doesn’t use her powers to their full potential. Something I actually loved about Superman is how much he got his ass kicked. Gunn was out to prove that Superman fights can have stakes — that he’s not just undefeatable and therefore boring as everyone says. Gunn’s ability to create ways to kill the Man of Steel without Kryptonite is amazing! Kara, in this film, is fighting space pirates and constantly forgets to finish the fight. It’s frustrating because the remedy to this in the comic is that they don’t see Krem until the last couple of issues, but in this film, Krem keeps showing up to menace Supergirl, and most of the time she has her powers.
I could ramble about how bad the dialogue can be, how derivative and uninspired it is or whatever lame comic thing I can talk about, but I’ll spare you. Here’s the moral of all this: Comic books are a valid storytelling medium. I recall recommending Alan Moore’s Watchmen to someone and being told that they have more important things to read. Watchmen is one of my favorite works of fiction. I did end up falling out of love with comics because I was told they were childish and I had grown bored of having costumes thrust into my peripherals all the time, but I’m back now, and I love them so much more than ever. I loved Superman because, above all else, it was earnest. There wasn’t a self-deprecatory tone toward its own plot. It didn’t try to bog its drama down with one-liners. It was just proud to be a comic book movie, and I think more movies should.
If you want to see Supergirl, go ahead, but I’d advise you to just read the comic, which is more dramatic, more meaningful and more impactful. —B. Allan Johnson
Read more reviews from B. Allan Johnson below:
Film Review: The Bride!
Film Review: Backrooms
Do you enjoy SLUG’s film reviews? Consider becoming one of our donors!
One Wednesday evening in May, at the boutique hotel Dream Hollywood — located just off the Walk of Fame — a young hotel staff member shuffled over to her co-worker to discuss a special guest on the top floor. Together they exchanged whispers about an artist’s unknown whereabouts and whether or not they would catch him on his descent to the first floor.
The name “Tito Double P” slipped out, referring to the Mexican corrido singer who happened to be in town promoting his latest album, “Acomodo.”
I met the 28-year-old on the top floor, where he opted for a warm, friendly hug in lieu of a firm business handshake. We were quickly rushed into a side room to conduct his last interview of the evening.
Those who’ve followed Tito Double P’s musical journey since 2023 would likely describe him as a chaotic force, with weathered vocals, off-the-cuff ad libs, riotous pelvic thrusts and suggestive tongue expressions.
Come Sunday, he’ll bring the ruckus when he headlines Belico Fest in L.A.’s BMO Stadium. But when we spoke about his second solo album, “Acomodo,” the Nayarit-born, Sinaloa-raised singer, whose real name is Jesús Roberto Laija García, arrived polished, perfumed and poised.
“After this LP, don’t be surprised if you see different things from me,” said Laija García.
Released on May 28, the LP contains 23 corridos, which see Laija García strike the commanding tone of brazen CEO. In its focus track, “Me Vale V,” the singer firmly declares he is manifesting his dreams and not paying anyone else mind. Its lyrics reveal it all: “Ya van tres días que no paro, pero bien trabado” (I’ve been going nonstop for three days now, but I’m totally locked in).
But listeners also get a more vulnerable side of the músicana mexicana singer, who agonizes over heartbreak in “La Fama” — while simultaneously voicing his vice for women and boozy escapades. Throughout the record, the singer sprinkles in the catchphrase, “Bélico pero no tanto, mija,” which translates to “warlike, but not too much, my dear” — striking a balance between his hard-shelled exterior and inner tenderness, namely in the yearning jazzy corrido “Pase y Pase,” in which he pleads for a late-night booty call.
Most notably, “Acomodo” boasts no features whatsoever, a rarity in an industry where artist collaborations play a key role in bringing in bigger audiences (and bigger payouts).
“Many people called me to ask why they weren’t going to be on [the record],” he said. But the solo move marked a milestone achievement for Laija García, who had no designs of becoming an international musical marvel.
“I was never the child who sang, who played the guitar in school festivities or at family parties,” said Laija García in a calm tone — occasionally referring to his stage name in the third person.
The singer still can’t fathom his own success. He cut his teeth by penning career-defining songs for his famous cousin, Peso Pluma — including anthemic corridos like “El Belicon,” “Siempre Pendientes” and “AMG.” These standout ballads touted a rugged lifestyle with elements of organized crime, which aided his primo’s ascent to the mainstream.
Tito Double P released his second solo album “Acomodo.”
(Adan Ornelas Anta)
In the process of composing his cousin’s Grammy-winning 2023 album, “Génesis,” Laija García asked him if he could also release his own material. “Let’s go!” he recalled Peso Pluma saying. “Your first song will be a duet with me.”
The plan was to debut Tito Double P with “La People,” a fiery narcocorrido that details the inner life of a cartel’s tactical security guard, who narrowly escapes a police raid.
But Laija García’s rollout plan took a detour when an unmastered version of his track was leaked to TikTok in spring 2023 — a bouncy tune he later renamed “Dembow Belico,” which is characterized by a Dominican-style boom-chi-boom-chick rhythm and raw, spitfire lyrics. This party track introduced audiences to a version of Tito Double P that radiated a lighthearted madness — fueled by Skyy vodka and Old Parr whiskey, as per the song’s lyrics.
“I liked it, it was something new,” said Luis R. Conriquez, who called up the new singer to be a collaborator. “What makes him special is his voice, his sound. He’s his own person.”
Together with Conriquez and Joel De La P, “Dembow Belico” was released on June 5, 2023, and became Tito Double P’s official debut in the music world — even giving life to one of the most viral clips of Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez, who can be seen awkwardly dancing to it.
“From there on, Tito Double P was another persona,” said Laija García. Throughout his lively retelling of the story, he added a series of sound effects to move the story line — among them, wacha, pum, pum, pum, gol. “More than anything, Tito Double P came across as a character, because that guy was totally crazy, he didn’t give a damn.”
“More than anything, Tito Double P came across as a character, because that guy was totally crazy, he didn’t give a damn,” said Jesús Roberto Laija García, better known as Tito Double P.
(Adan Ornelas Anta)
In real life, Laija García considers himself a timid, camera-shy guy. That’s why he chose an illustration for the cover of his 2024 debut album “Incómodo,” rather than a real-life image of himself; the LP title directly translates to “discomfort.”
“I was going to be one of those artists that [only] releases songs, because [I thought,] ‘How embarrassing would it be if I got up on stage?’” he mused. “But now, I dominate the stage from head to toe. And I don’t want to come down.”
The debut record also served as an experimental project for Tito Double P, whose hard-won swagger elevated every sound he toyed with — whether it was on the brass-heavy banda song “La 701” with Luis R Conriquez, the techno thump of “La Bandolera,” the heavy-hitting urban track “Linda” with Neton Vega and the guitar-powered ballad “Los Cuadros” ft. Peso Pluma).
Featuring collaborations with established acts, such as Natanael Cano, Junior H and Grupo Frontera, the album peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 chart and helped the rising star distinguish himself from his high-profile cousin — who he toppled from the No. 1 spot on the Top Latin Albums chart, five weeks after his debut release.
Although Laija García hasn’t shied away from embracing that familial tie either; in May, both Tito Double P and Peso Pluma concluded their “Dinastía” tour following their joint 2025 album of the same name.
“I still see comments on TikTok where people are surprised that we are cousins,” remarked Laija García.
Now with “Acomodo” — which debuted at the top of both Spotify Top Albums USA and Top Global Charts across all genres — Tito Double P affirmed his rightful place in música mexicana upper echelons.
“That’s why it’s called ‘Acomodo,’ because everything is aligning itself as it should be,” he said.
As Tito Double P made his way to the lobby, a member of the Dream Hollywood valet — who likely bore witness to Hollywood A-listers and other luminaries — asked if he could take a picture with the singer. “Tito, Tito, a photo please!” asked the employee.
Laija García flashed a friendly smile. Thankfully for the attendant, Tito Double P is always camera-ready.
A deliriously funny riff on The Wizard of Oz from director David Wain, Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass is a goofy patchwork of ideas. Some of them don’t work, but most of them do if you’re in on the joke. Written by Wain and his longtime collaborator Ken Marino, the comedy features an incredible number of hilarious people, sometimes playing absurdist versions of themselves. Jon Hamm, Jennifer Aniston, John Slattery, and Elizabeth Banks, among others, cameo alongside a cast of lesser-known but no less talented performers. Headlining the movie is Zoey Deutch, who, amid an impressive list of credits, has proven her knack for ridiculous humor like this (see 2019’s Zombieland: Double Tap). Wain directs a series of episodic segments that follow characters who skip along a yellow brick road of surreal gags and jokes about Hollywood. It’s all a bit nonsensical and ludicrous, but it made me laugh a lot.
For those of us who loved MTV’s sketch-comedy show The State (1993-1995) or Wain’s spoof movies such as Wet Hot American Summer (2001) and They Came Together (2014), Gail Daughtry will feel like a warm blanket. The State was a comedy troupe nesting ground for talent, many of whom went on to create and appear in dozens of other shows (Viva Variety, Reno 911!, Childrens Hospital, etc.), while member Michael Showalter has become a well-respected director whose output includes the indie comedy The Big Sick (2017) and the upcoming Colleen Hoover book adaptation Verity. Whenever Wain and Marino reteam with various members of The State (Michael Ian Black, Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Joe Lo Truglio, et al.), there’s usually something special in store. Even if the material doesn’t always work as a whole—see The Ten (2007), an anthology movie that pokes fun at the Ten Commandments—the result is bound to include some big laughs.
Deutch plays the titular Kansas bumpkin, a hairdresser who plans to marry her fiancé and lifelong sweetheart, the ingeniously named Tom Soursap McNoodleman (Michael Cassidy), in two weeks. At once naive and intense, she’s never been with anyone else. Neither has Tom. But after sharing their picks for a celebrity sex pass, Tom almost instantly encounters his choice in the flesh and then takes advantage of the opportunity. Burned because she didn’t actually think they were serious about following through, Gail resolves to seek out her chosen celebrity, Jon Hamm, and have sex with him to balance the scales. And so, Gail is off to see The Wonderful Wizard of Hollywood, alongside her coworker named Otto (Miles Gutierrez-Riley), an anagram of Toto. As the story unfolds, Gail Daughtry spoofs the structure of Dorothy’s adventure to Oz, except that Gail’s destination is Tinseltown.
Just as New York was “another character” in They Came Together, Los Angeles becomes one here. But instead of capturing the city’s flavor, Gail and Otto gravitate toward CityWalk at Universal Studios and, based on their hotel concierge’s recommendations, other local hotspots such as McDonald’s, Starbucks, and 7-Eleven. Gail and Otto begin searching for Hamm and gather friends along the way. Among them are Vincent (Marino), a former paparazzo who dreams of snapping a photo of Hamm; Caleb (Ben Wang), an aspiring CAA talent agent; and the crazed Slattery, who wants to work with Hamm again after their Mad Men days. Hot on their trail are two cartoonish mobsters (Joe Lo Truglio, Mather Zickel) desperate to recover a briefcase that was switched with Gail’s at LAX and contains information about their boss’ (Sabrina Impacciatore) plans to dismantle the global financial system. Their quest eventually brings them to Hamm, whose private security (Tobie Windham) enforces not with his fists or a taser, but with an obscure promise to make anyone who tests him “real sick.”
Gail’s travels are occasionally interrupted by Fourth Wall-breaking commentary from the film’s narrator, a mailman played by Fred Malmed. It’s one of the aspects of the movie that doesn’t work, but Gail Daughtry’s framework is less essential than the inspired jokes throughout. Wain and Marino riotously showcase the most banal aspects of LA, a signature of their delightfully dumb humor, which almost always lands as intended. Granted, some unfamiliar with their brand of comedy may take a while to get on its wavelength, and others may never understand why it’s funny. Still, there are enough non sequiturs and random punchlines blended with raunchy and occasionally dark-as-hell asides to keep the viewer off-kilter yet chuckling throughout.
There’s an irreverent surprise around every corner in Gail Daughtry, and Deutch fits right in with her comedian costars. Her impressive range renders the silliest moments without winking at the audience, but she also never reduces her character to a mere comic device. It’s also a joy to watch celebrities of Hamm and Aniston’s caliber poke fun at their image, even if the movie doesn’t challenge Being John Malkovich (1999) in its self-referentiality. Outside of last year’s disappointing The Naked Gun, few comedies today attempt to be pure joke machines. Wain and Marino deliver a movie that will probably take some time to be discovered and cherished for what it is, but after a few rewatches, much like the director’s other features, it’s sure to become a cult favorite.
-
Indiana5 minutes agoBaby abducted in Marshall County found safe in northwest Indiana
-
Iowa8 minutes agoIowa City Man who ran over people in homeless encampment sentenced to nearly two decades in prison
-
Kansas13 minutes ago
Kansas Lottery Mega Millions, Pick 3 winning numbers for July 7, 2026
-
Kentucky20 minutes agoUS 51 Cairo bridge to remain closed for period of time
-
Louisiana23 minutes agoHeart of Louisiana: Lafitte Wetlands
-
Maine28 minutes agoMaine’s 10 most expensive home sales from June
-
Maryland35 minutes agoMaryland Lottery Mega Millions, Pick 3 results for July 7, 2026
-
Michigan38 minutes agoMichigan Supreme Court rules rape admission invalid due to LSD use
