A long time fan of hers, I couldn’t help but plunge into Iris’s credentials and biographical information when given the chance. Born in 1921 (making her 94 years young), Iris studied Art History at New York University, and went to have a career at Women’s Wear Daily before embarking on a career in interior decoration with designer Elinor Johnson. 
After marrying her husband Carl, they started their own textile company, where Iris was contracted for various projects in the fashion industry, including design restoration work at the White House for 9 various Presidents.
While Iris got her start in the design restoration/textile industry, many of us have come to know and love her for her fashionably fierce persona, constantly strutting threads that will either make you gush or clutch your pearls. She gained prominence as a fashion star when the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute presented an exhibition about the New Yorker’s vast collection of clothes and accessories (she’s traveled around the world extensively for many of her threads, and always talks about bargain shopping!). Here’s a great snippet of an interview she did for The New York Times:
Nowadays, you’ll catch her on panels, at exclusive fashion events and parties, or even headlining your favorite clothing campaign in a way only Iris can (like Kate Spade)
An eccentric and lavish dresser who shows more is more, she’s highly active in vocalizing the necessity for equal rights, constantly lending her voice to the current state of fashion, the industry, and personal style.
So why is she our Beauty Crush Wednesday? Aside from being an advocate for self-love and self-expression through clothing, she shows us all that you can be effortlessly fierce in the skin that you’re in, and you don’t have to settle or simmer any of your fire for anyone! Her style may not be for everyone, but she kills it for me, every time. 
That’s why Iris Apfel is our Beauty Crush! Is she yours?
