Inside Iris Apfel’s World

At the age of 93, Iris Apfel has been asked a lot of questions—and clearly she’s tired of answering them. Don’t ask her about style rules; she doesn’t have any. Don’t ask how long it took her to get dressed that morning; she has better things to do than spend the day planning outfits. And don’t ask her what she thinks about the new documentary Iris, of which she is the subject. “I’ll tell you later. I haven’t seen it completely,” she said Wednesday night before the screening of the film, which was the last directed by Albert Maysles before his death. And with that, the style icon, who was dressed in head-to-toe orange, wearing her signature round glasses, disappeared into the dark Paris Theatre.

Although Apfel herself isn’t one for fawning, the other guests at the premiere—including J.Crew’s Jenna Lyons, photographer Bruce Weber, model Dree Hemingway, creative director Chris Benz, and designers Alexis Bittar, and Maria Cornejo—couldn’t say enough about her. Her friends and fans donned their brightest outfits for the occasion, including Lyons, who wore a glowing green jacket that was the same color as the one Apfel was wearing when they first met. “Wearing all black isn’t style, it’s a uniform,” says Apfel in the film. Now that’s a style rule to live by. Just don’t call it one.