(JTA) — The American toy company that created the Barbie doll announced a new doll honoring Iris Apfel, the 96-year-old Jewish fashion guru.
The Apfel doll wears the same green Gucci suit and jewels that the real-life Apfel wears on the cover of her latest book, “Accidental Icon,” the New York Post reported Thursday.
“Her long-spanning career makes her the perfect subject of a one-of-a-kind doll, the highest honor Barbie bestows,” a Mattel representative told the Post in a statement. The new Apfel Barbie will not be available for sale.
Apfel, a New York-born fashion journalist and illustrator turned designer, won the Women Together Special Award in 2016. In 2005, the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York premiered an exhibition about Apfel’s style titled “Rara Avis.”
Since 2014, she has been the subject of two internationally distributed documentaries: “Iris” by Albert Maysles and “If You’re Not In the Obit, Eat Breakfast.”
Last week, to celebrate International Women’s Day, Mattel released a “Sheroes” collection featuring more than 15 one-of-a-kind doll versions of inspiring women, including Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim, ballerina Misty Copeland and artist Frida Kahlo.
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