Iris Apfel: is this Rachel Zoe in the next 50 years?

Rachel Zoe might be respected in her field but, unfortunately for her, nobody in the real world actually likes her. This is the harsh reality of being a celebrity stylist.

Rachel has the ability to strike fear into the hearts of even the most resilient designers and celebrities she’s working with. However, there’s one woman who makes her look like a Disney Mousketeer in comparison. That woman is Iris Apfel.

The 90-year-old cuts a striking silhouette; all huge jewellery, opulent clothing and flying-saucer spectacles. There isn’t much the eccentric fashion icon doesn’t know about style and, boy, she doesn’t hold back.

Speaking about walking down Fifth Avenue, she once said, “It seems that the fatter and uglier people are, the fewer clothes they wear. The shorts and flip-flops and tight jeans on butts that go from here to Poughkeepsie.”

That, and the fact she believes size 10 (UK size 14) stretch jeans should be outlawed, means she’s created more than her fair share of controversy. While Rachel Zoe might have been hailed as the leader of the pro-skinny movement in Hollywood a few years back, nobody quite does body fascism like Iris.

Iris is currently working on her own jewellery collection, regularly speaks at lectures and is an unlikely New York socialite. While she seems to have the energy and zest for life of someone half her age, it’s reassuring to know that, when she does finally retire from all this fashion malarkey, we have a suitable substitute in everyone’s favourite demonic stylist – Rachel Zoe.