“Fashion icon” is an honorary title that gets tossed around
just a bit too loosely these days. For every timeless maven, there’s a trendy
poseur; for every Jackie O, a Paris Hilton. But there’s no argument that Iris
Apfel, 88-year-old international socialite and businesswoman, has been setting
(and resetting, not to mention stretching, challenging, and ripping to beautiful
shreds) the standards of style for nearly a century — hell, we’re sure even her
baby bonnets were haute couture. To celebrate the influence that Apfel has had
on the fashion industry, as well as the fantastical works of art that compose
her wardrobe, the Peabody Essex Museum (161 Essex Street, Salem,
978.745.9500) is exhibiting “Rare Bird of Fashion: The Irreverent
Iris Apfel,” starting on October 17.
On view until February 7, 2010, the exhibition features more than
80 ensembles from Apfel’s personal collection, and you won’t need to squint
through the fashionista’s signature outsized spectacles to see these pieces:
they feature the bright prints, bold baubles, and brazen eclecticism that have
come to define Apfel, co-founder of her own esteemed textile-design company,
Old World Weavers. Outfitting her exterior with tribal patterns, animal prints,
fringes, and feathers, she integrates pieces from famed designers with
flea-market finds and captures the spirit of society style while rounding it
with a Boho-chic sensibility she pioneered long before the Olsen twins were
seat-warming runway shows. If the body is a canvas, then Apfel has long been
painting in broad, bold strokes with every color on the palette, turning the
ostentatious into art.
Besides the ongoing exhibition, several fashion tête-à-têtes will
give museum-goers the chance to see, and hear, Apfel in the well-attired flesh
this fall: she’ll be joined by designer Isaac Mizrahi on Tuesday, November 3,
at 8 p.m.; by former Bill Blass creative director Michael
Vollbracht on Friday, December 4, at 6:30 p.m.; and by Vollbracht and Robin
Givhan, fashion editor at the Washington Post, on
Saturday, December 5. For more information on the exhibition and these special
conversations, visit pem.org.
