In the upcoming Iris documentary by Albert Maysles (the recently deceased director of Grey Gardens and Gimme Shelter) the 93-year-old New York fashionista Iris Apfel gives Kim Kardashian’s butt a run for its money as she flirts with rapper Kanye West at the CFDA Awards. In the clip, Apfel is onstage presenting the award for Accessory Designer of the Year to a positively glowing Alexander Wang. But backstage, when introduced to West, she says, “Hi! Such a pleasure to meet you.” Kanye, oh-so-polite, replies “Great meeting you too.” Apfel admits to being “a big fan” and Kanye gets all bashful, cooing, “Aw, thank you, aw”, before going on to tell her she’s “killing it: you look so good tonight.” As Iris flirtatiously rocks her lil shoulders, costume jewelry jangling, she finishes the exchange with, “Thank you. My goodness, coming from a handsome young fella, wow!” It’s a sweet little moment, and a sign that Kim’s got competition.
The melting moment is preceded by some pretty intense fandom from J. Crew’s Creative Director, Jenna Lyons, who tells Apfel, barely pausing for breath: “You are the most beautiful, most incredible woman I have ever seen. I’ve been such a fan of yours for so many years. It’s such an honor to meet you.” The excerpt, which ran exclusively on Paper Magazine earlier, is a nice bit of insight into the humanity that still can exist in celeb circles.