101-Year-Old Fashion Legend Iris Apfel Lights Up Her Designed Christmas Tree That Wears Her Signature Glasses

Iris Apfel: The tree, made entirely of surfboards, is located in Palm Beach, Fla.

Bigger, brighter, and bolder!

“More is more, and less is a bore,” is Iris Apfel’s motto. Despite being 101, she is still “vertical” and literally squeezes every last drop out of her life. Her great sense of style has been praised and followed over generations.

This year, she unveiled a highly unconventional holiday tree inspired by her one-of-a-kind style.

The fashion icon dreamed up a surfboard tree for The Royal Poinciana Plaza in Palm Beach, though it may have taken a Christmas miracle to get the designer on a surfboard.

“I think my days as a potential surfer have passed, but never say never!” Apfel, bedecked in layers of necklaces and pink feathers, said before the night’s debut of her design for the tree, which is made entirely of colorful surfboards.

Apfel, who lives seasonally in Florida city, was inspired to design the tree by her own personal style. She’s a proud “maximalist at heart,” so it was important for the holiday tree to embody her outlook on design.

“My design style is ever-evolving yet unwavering in the sense that I have always chosen to go bigger, brighter, and bolder than anyone would expect,” Apfel says. “Each artist or designer before me has put their own spin on the tree, but until this year, the tree was only made of surfboards and didn’t feature any additions or embellishments.”

Iris grew up in Queens, New York. She was the only child in the family and often had to entertain herself. She did it by playing with old fabrics and playing with them at her grandparents’ home. At an early age, Iris became obsessed with different colors, textures, and the feel of the small pieces of fabric. It was the start of her career. Interior design, fabric design, and even fashion design started when she was just a little girl!

During the ’60s, Iris was mainly famous as an interior designer and had a great sense of style. Despite being highly in demand in this profession, she never stopped looking for other opportunities. Her distinct taste and sense of style helped her start her fabric company with her late husband. Apfel designed fabrics and gave a new life to old furniture pieces with these designs.

In 2005, at age 84, Apfel became a national sensation after the Metropolitan Museum of Art displayed her closet archives filled with colorful, bold, and eclectic designs from years of international travel. While in the textile industry with her late husband Carl, she reproduced historic fabrics in private quarters and public rooms for nine White Houses, including presidents Truman, Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton.

Since then, she has designed and appeared in campaigns for companies across the board from beauty to interiors to fashion. Earlier this year, she created a line of clothing for H&M at the time that her designs were “playful and festive and so much fun.”

Designing the surfboard tree, she believes that accessorizing is key to creating a “wow” factor, her approach was to add a pair of her signature oversized round glasses as well as turquoise necklaces to the tree.

She used multiple shades of pink to create the lenses in the glasses since she has always viewed her life through rose-colored glasses. “I encourage others to do the same,” she says. “And the turquoise necklaces add a pop of color which really brings the tree to life. I love the combination of colors—perfect for the holiday season in Palm Beach.”

Over the years, Apfel’s obsession with color, patterns, and texture combined with her maximalist vision in accessorizing has made her an international style icon. Her large round glasses with bulky costume jewelry and wildly printed garments are always show-stoppers and were on display at her tree’s debut.

Iris – Official Trailer

Visitors who gathered at the Royal Poinciana Plaza for the tree’s unveiling were encouraged to dress colorfully like Apfel to get in the spirit of her Christmas tree design.

Models for Alice + Olivia and Marissa Collections located in the shopping plaza hosted runway shows during the tree launch event with models dressed in Apfel-inspired designs of bold colors, and playful accessories. Other retailers highlighted their windows with Apfel’s signature looks.

“When I grow up, I want to be Iris Apfel,” Samantha David, President of WS Development, the company that owns the Royal Poinciana Plaza, says. “She is a creative genius who embodies the best of fashion—always fun and fabulous and never taking herself too seriously.”

For the holidays, Apfel had a blast designing the tree and was excited to see it come to life. Even though she chose the colors and design elements, it was an unforgettable moment when she saw the finished product in the lights. “I had so much fun designing the tree because it is different from anything I have ever done,” she says minutes after the lighting. “It looks wonderful and is amazing that it only took me 100 years to do it!”

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