Iris Apfel’s Close Friend Recalls Funny Walmart and Paris Outings: ‘Iris Had No Idea She Was So Famous’ (Exclusive)

Bruce Sutka recalls to PEOPLE his fondest memories of the fashion icon, including one of Apfel’s last wishes

Celebrities and close friends of fashion icon Iris Apfel, who died Friday at the age of 102, continue to remember her colorful life with tributes and memorable stories.

Bruce Sutka, one of Apfel’s friends for 30 years, tells PEOPLE exclusively about some of the fun adventures he had with her and her late husband, Carl Apfel. He also reveals the severity of Iris’ health problems before her death.

“Her recent decline has been so severe that I’m glad she’s gone – she’s with Carla now. They belong together,” says Sutka, owner and creative director of Sutka Visual Design, adding that Iris’ hearing loss and macular degeneration in her eyes have worsened significantly in recent months.

The judge says Iris rented a house in the Hamptons last summer because her health was failing and, although she was feeling “lethargic,” she wanted to fulfill her dream of spending time with film producer Trudie Styler, who is Sting’s wife.

Sting and wife Trudie Styler in February 2024.

ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty

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“People left food for her, but she never ate it,” recalls Sutka. “Iris really wanted to see Trudie, and the day Trudie came to see her, Iris came alive. She was completely normal all day with Trudie because she was delighted that the woman she admired so much was there.”

Sutka spent many fun times with Iris and Carl, who died in 2015, over the decades, including one remarkable outing at Walmart with the couple.

“Carl picked up electric fans, pots and pans and other similar things,” Sutka remembers. “Iris asked him, ‘What are you going to do with these things—put them back.’ Carl joked, ‘F— you, Iris!’ ”

Iris ended up taking the baby boots because they were “so cute”.

Carl and Iris Apfel in 2012.

Cindy Ord/Getty

“Her work carried her after her husband died,” notes Sutka. “She loved him so much. He was an eclectic man, a true gentleman and the other half of an amazing marriage.”

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Iris will be buried next to Carl in the “Jewish cemetery”, according to Šutka. Carl is buried at Beth David Cemetery in Elmont, east of New York.

Billboard with Iris Apfel in Paris 2016.

Bertrand Rindoff Petroff/Getty

Sutka, who called Iris a “hot mom,” also recalls a trip to Paris, where Iris was surprised to see her featured on billboards across the city. “Iris had no idea that she was so famous,” he explains.

“Above all, Iris was a style provocateur in the world,” says Sutka about her close friend. “But to me, she was everything anyone could want in a mother figure. I will miss him very much.”

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Source: HIS Education