When Iris Apfel passed away last year, she left behind a vivid legacy, one colored by her interior design practice and her unparalleled personal style. But she also left behind a collection made up of fashion pieces, paintings, sculptures, and furniture that speak to her bold eye. “Color,” she once declared, “can raise the dead.”
This month, Apfel’s eclectic hoard is making its way to auction at Christie’s. Up for sale at “Unapologetically Iris: The Collection of Iris Apfel” are more than 200 items from the designer’s collection, not limited to couture garments from her wardrobe, decorative art pieces once installed in her New York and Palm Beach homes, and statement jewelry she voraciously collected. Bidding is open from January 28 through February 13.
Iris Apfel x H&M, Two Ruffled “Flounced” Short Jackets, from “Unapologetically Iris: The Collection of Iris Apfel.” Photo: Christie’s Images Ltd. 2024.
Born in 1921 in Queens, New York, Apfel’s distinctive taste was honed by her childhood trips to antique stores, her days as an art history student at New York University, and her work for interior designer Elinor Johnson. In 1950, with her husband Carl Apfel, she founded Old World Weavers, a textile company that specialized in the reproduction of 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-century fabrics. The firm landed commissions with the White House, while the work sent Apfel around the world.
It was on these sourcing trips that she began her collection of brightly colored accessories and unique fashion pieces. By mixing and layering these pieces with remarkable flair, Apfel conceived a maximal form of self-expression—large glasses, bold lip, bangles galore—that has elevated her to a fashion icon in her latter years. As her Instagram account bio still reminds us: “More is more and less is a bore.”
Selections from Apfel’s collection went on view at the Costume Institute’s critically acclaimed 2005 exhibition, “Rara Avis,” which later traveled across the U.S. “Unapologetically Iris” surfaces yet more.
Iris Apfel x Zenni, A Case of 18 Eyeglass Frames, from “Unapologetically Iris: The Collection of Iris Apfel.” Photo: Christie’s Images Ltd. 2024.
Among the sale are fashion items from the 1950s to the present, with key highlights such as a Dior Haute Couture Feather Coat (estimate: $800–$1,200) and a Carolina Herrera Tri-Color Block Shirt Gown ($800–$1,200). Fittingly, there’s a case of 18 eyeglass frames ($400–$600), which Apfel designed in partnership with Zenni.
Apfel’s singular taste is further apparent in her archive of art and design objects. There are paintings, created in the style of European masters, of dogs and apes, as well as a portrait of Margarita Teresa of Spain, which carries a $1,500–$2,000 estimate.
After Carl Reichert, A Maltese with a red pom-pom collar, from “Unapologetically Iris: The Collection of Iris Apfel.” Photo: Christie’s Images Ltd. 2024.
Elsewhere are furniture pieces as varied as a Chinese carved folding screen ($2,000–$3,000), a giltwood footrest supported by reclining lion sculptures ($1,000–$1,500), and a Victorian brass bird cage, complete with a beaded parrot model ($800–$1,200).
The star lot, however, has got to be a carved ostrich sculpture ($6,000–$8,000) that opens up to reveal a bar space. The object once took pride of place in Apfel’s New York apartment and is inexplicably being sold with a Kermit the Frog plush, as it well should.
A Carved Ostrich-Form Bar “Gussy,” from “Unapologetically Iris: The Collection of Iris Apfel.” Photo: Christie’s Images Ltd. 2024.
Highlights from Apfel’s trove will be exhibited in Florida at Christie’s Miami January 24–25, then the Colony Hotel in Palm Beach January 29–31. The entire collection will be on view at Christie’s New York February 8–13.