Iris Apfel: Creating an Identity at NYC Jewelry Week 2024

Join us for TJL's annual NYCJW brunch and a lively presentation on fashion icon Iris Apfel by Petra Slinkard, the Nancy B. Putnam Curator for Fashion and Textiles at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. Slinkard will talk about Apfel’s style, her collecting habits, and the ongoing museum presentation highlighting Iris and Carl Apfel’s lasting legacy in design.

Petra Slinkard joined PEM in 2018, and now fosters the growth and inclusive spirit of the museum’s celebrated fashion initiative to develop a vibrant array of exhibitions, installations and programming that celebrates the global impact and reach of fashion and textiles. Slinkard oversees the museum’s Fashion and Design gallery and has served as curator or co-curator of Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love, and Made It: The Women who Revolutionized Fashion. In her role as Director of Curatorial Affairs, Slinkard oversees the integration of PEM’s exhibition research and curatorial teams and develops departmental priorities and the strategies to deliver them.

Founded in 1799, the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, is the country’s oldest continuously operating museum. PEM provides thought-provoking experiences of the arts, humanities and sciences to celebrate the creative achievements and potential of people across time, place and culture. By connecting people through inquiry, empathy and dialogue, PEM encourages an understanding of our shared humanity and fosters a sense of belonging in a complex, ever-changing world.

The Jewelry Library (TJL) is a collaborative space curated for jewelry people by jewelry people. Founded in 2018, TJL hosts a wide range of exhibitions, talks, and events all across the jewelry-spectrum, collaborating with both contemporary and vintage gallerists, artists, and collectors, as well as storytellers, historians, makers, and wearers. Along with an archive, library, and gallery space–which houses the TJL collection of books and jewelry–there is a penthouse space, The Great Room @ The Jewelry Library, for larger community gatherings. In early 2025, TJL will be opening a multi-faceted ground floor space in the Chelsea-Nomad neighborhood.

Each November, NYC Jewelry Week proudly presents ‘The Week,’ a 7-day celebration dedicated to the art of jewelry. This annual event invites a global audience to explore the world of jewelry through a dynamic mix of in-person and virtual experiences, spanning New York City and beyond.

Host or Publisher NYC Jewelry Week