Press Release

Boonton, NJ, USA, October 5, 2025 -- A special three-day, single-owner auction celebrating the life and legacy of Iris Apfel (1921-2024) – the style icon, tastemaker, and fashion-world firecracker – will be held October 15th, 16th and 17th, by Millea Bros. Ltd., online and live in the Millea Bros. Ltd. gallery, located at 607 Myrtle Avenue in Boonton, beginning at 10am Eastern Time each day.

As the final trove from her personal collection, the sale includes the remaining contents of her two New York City apartments, her Palm Beach residence, and several personal storage units. Ms. Apfel’s legacy comes vividly to life in this concluding chapter of her remarkable collection. Items reflect her signature “more-is-more” aesthetic – bold, eclectic and joyful.

On offer is a dazzling mix of vintage and contemporary fashion, costume jewelry, couture, and accessories, alongside an eclectic array of furnishings, artwork, and decorative objects. In all, a total of 1,173 lots will cross the auction block. Notably, most items carry modest pre-sale estimates, making the sale accessible to a wide audience, just as Iris would have wanted.

The auction is titled, Apfelicious! / The Iris Apfel Sale. “This auction is a final invitation into Iris’s world -- the bold color, the risk-taking, and the unapologetic joy she brought to every space and garment,” said Mark Millea of Millea Bros. Ltd. “Even in absence, her personality lives on through these objects, and we’re honored to share that legacy with collectors both new and old.”

Highlights include Chinese textiles, many of them exhibited at the Newark Museum’s Dragon Threads in 1992; fashion pieces that were famously exhibited in Rara Avis: Selections from the Iris Barrel Apfel Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005–06; French and Continental furniture and decorative arts; and Venetian hand-painted furniture and porcelains.

Day 1 (Oct. 15) items will include a vintage Northwest Coast button blanket, likely Haida or Tlingit, British Columbia, 4 feet 6 inches by 4 feet 9 inches; a 19th century William Edwards Australian silver mounted emu egg, converted to a hinged presentation box; and a Continental polychrome enameled porcelain model of a monkey, 14 inches tall, shown seated, eating fruit.

Also offered on Day 1 is an antique Venetian painted bombe commode with a later faux painted marble top over a green painted and floral decorated case; a rare, late 19th century French Palais Royal sedan chair and scent holder; and an oil on canvas portrait of Anne (Lovet), Countess of Bath, done by a follower of Anthony van Dyck (Flemish, 1599-1641).

Day 1 key fashion lots will include the following:

- A group of vintage floral evening ensembles dating to the 1960s and 1970s.

- A Mongolian lamb jacket by Dries Van Noes, with a Papua New Guinea long pendant of white cowrie Oceanic shells, and a pair of Exte abstract print leather pants, size 42.

- An Emilio Pucci bright orange velvet combo piece that can be carried as a tote or fold over style, with leather handle and fastener trim in camel.

- A suede and Mongolian curly lamb coat, made in France, 40 inches in length.

- A 20th century Miao Mong Peoples metal alloy necklace, 11 inches in diameter.

Day 2 (Oct. 16) will feature a Continental School portrait painting of an aristocrat hunter and his dog (possibly Italian, 18th century); an oil on Masonite painting by Alberoi Bazile (Haitian, 1920-2005), titled Tree of Life, signed and unframed; and a 1965 UPI silver gelatin print fashion photograph titled Irene Simonaitis Models Furrier Rosin & Starr Glasses, matted and framed.

For more info about Millea Bros. Ltd. and the Apfelicious! / The Iris Apfel Sale planned for October 15th thru 17th, online and live in Boonton, N.J., please visit www.MilleaBros.com.

Organisation Profile: