Textile expert, interior decorator, and fashion icon known for her eccentric style, Appel, died at the age of 102.

Her business agent, Laurie Seel, confirmed her death, describing Appel as an "exceptional" person. No cause of death was given. It was also announced on her verified Instagram page on Friday, which celebrated the leap day, February 29, as her 102 and a half birthday just one day earlier.

Appel was born on August 29, 1921, and was famous for her bold and eye-catching clothes, blending haute couture with oversized jewelry. For example, Appel’s classic look could combine feather snakes with strands of chunky beads, bangles, and a jacket decorated with Native American beads.

With her large round black-rimmed glasses, shiny red lipstick, and short white hair, she stood out at every fashion show she attended.

Her style was the subject of museum exhibitions and a documentary film titled "Iris" directed by Albert Maysles.

She once said: "I am not beautiful, and I will never be beautiful, but that doesn't matter." "I have something much better, I have style."

Appel enjoyed fame late in life on social media, gathering nearly three million followers on Instagram, where her profile states: "More is more and less is boring." On TikTok, she attracted 215,000 followers as she became wise about fashion and elegance matters and promoted recent collaborations.

In one TikTok video, she said: "Being stylish and being trendy are two very different things. You can easily buy your way into fashion. I think style is in your DNA. It means authenticity and courage."

She never retired, saying, “I think retirement at any age is a fate worse than death. Just because a number appears doesn’t mean you have to stop.”

Seel said in a statement, "Working with her was the honor of a lifetime. I will miss her daily calls, always starting with the familiar question: 'What do you have for me today?' I witnessed her insatiable desire to work, she was a visionary in every sense of the word. She saw the world through a unique lens – a lens adorned with giant, distinctive glasses perched on her nose."

Appel was an expert in antique textiles and fabrics. She and her husband Carl owned a textile manufacturing company called Old World Weavers, specializing in restoration work, including projects at the White House under six different U.S. presidents. Among Appel's celebrity clients were Estée Lauder and Greta Garbo.

Appel's fame exploded in 2005 when the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York City hosted an exhibition about her titled "Rara Avis," a Latin term meaning "rare bird." The museum described her style as "intelligent and highly distinctive."

Her originality is usually evident in her mixing of high and low fashion – Dior haute couture with what she found in thrift stores, 19th-century ecclesiastical clothing with Dolce & Gabbana lizard pants. The museum said her "multi-layered collections" challenged "esthetic norms" and "even at their most baroque and extreme" represent "bold pictorial modernity."

The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts was one of several museums across the country to host a traveling version of the exhibition. Appel later decided to donate hundreds of pieces to Peabody – including haute couture dresses – to help them build what she called "an amazing fashion collection." The Museum of Fashion and Lifestyle near Appel’s winter home in Palm Beach, Florida, also plans to create an exhibition displaying items from Appel's collection.

Appel was born in New York City to parents Samuel and Sadie Bariel. Her mother owned a store.

Appel’s fame in later years included appearances in ads for brands such as M.A.C. Cosmetics and Kate Spade. She also designed a collection of accessories and jewelry for a home shopping network, collaborated with H&M on a collection sold out within minutes featuring brightly colored clothes, jewelry, and shoes, created a makeup line with Ciaté London, a glasses collection with Zenni, and partnered with Rugable on floor coverings.

In a 2017 interview with The Associated Press at age 95, she said her favorite contemporary designers were Ralph Rucci, Isabel Toledo, and Naeem Khan, but added: "I have plenty, and I’m not looking for more." Asked for her fashion advice, she said: "Everyone must find their own way. I’m great at uniqueness. I don’t like trends. If you can figure out who you are, how you look, and what you can do to deal with it, you’ll know what to do."

She called herself the "Accidental Icon," which became the title of a book she published in 2018 filled with her memorabilia and style reflections. Appel’s lyrical poems are abundant, from Barbie in her form to T-shirts, glasses, artworks, and dolls.

Appel’s husband died before her. They had no children.