The wardrobe of a beloved Palm Beach figure is coming home for a limited time. Later this month, Christie’s will be holding an auction of pieces that once belonged to the celebrated style icon Iris Apfel. To promote the sale, the auction house will display highlights from the collection in Palm Beach.
Unapologetically Iris: The Collection of Iris Apfel features over 200 pieces clothing, accessories, art, and design pieces once owned by the late collector and decorator, who passed away at her home in Palm Beach last March. Apfel and her husband, Carl, co-founded Old World Weavers, which became an internationally renowned textile company. An expert in antique textiles, she consulted on a number of restoration projects, including at the White House. In her later years, she became a global style icon thanks to her bold and eclectic fashion sense. She collaborated with numerous fashion and accessories brands on collections, including H&M in 2022.
A feather coat by Dior Haute Couture circa 2018
Items from her H&M collection are included in auction, but fans will likely gravitate to her more luxurious wares. Among the coveted pieces are a feathered Dior Haute Couture coat (estimate $800–$1,200), a multi-colored Carolina Herrera gown (estimate: $800–$1,200). There are also cases of her iconic oversized glasses frames and bangle bracelets.
Meanwhile, Unapologetically Iris also features a number of art and design pieces from her homes in New York and Palm Beach. Notable highlights include an ostrich named ‘Gussy’ (estimate $6,000–$8,000). In the 1970s, when Apfel was an interior designer, she commissioned a wood carver in Italy to make a series of bar carts shaped like life-sized ostriches. She kept two for herself, naming them Gussy and Gustavo. “Gustavo lives in the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass., and Gussy lives with me in Palm Beach,” she told InStyle in 2018. “My apartment there is a little cuckoo, so she fits right in.”
“Gussy” the carved ostrich-form bar (with a Kermit toy on top), circa 1975.
The highlights will first be on view at Christie’s Miami January 24–25. They will be at The Colony Hotel in Palm Beach January 29–31. The online auction begins January 28, and runs until February 13. Click here for more information and to see all the lots.