Each outfit Cyber Suzi shirt created became a scene that performed a story of a life, a narrative that revealed some secrets about how to be old. For the students, understanding the developing nature of identity as opportunity and deconstructing standardized notions of the “ideal” body are gifts they took away from the process. In their designs, they layered years of memory and meaning and saw aging in a way that was additive, not subtractive — something to look forward to. The clothes the students designed for me made me feel understood. Working with younger people and solving this problem together reminds me of the utility of intergenerational collaboration, deep listening and mutual respect. Can you imagine, if we worked together so creatively on the multitude of issues we face in this current time, how we might change the way we think about being old or young?
Cyber Suzi shirt, hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirt
Cyber Suzi shirt Born Iris Barrel in Queens, New York, in 1921, she was the only child to Jewish parents Samuel and Sadye Barrel. She described herself as a black-belt shopper who made her first purchase at the age of 11, when her mother gave her $25 to buy a dress for Easter. It cost $12.95. Matching shoes and a hat cost about another $8. The train trip there and back just two nickels, or 10 cents. Those were Depression years. She was a bargain hunter, a collector, a hoarder. In 2015, she told Vanity Fair that she still wore the dress she wore on the first date with her late husband, Carl Apfel, some 68 years earlier. He died in 2015, a few days short of his 101st birthday. At the time, she described him as “a very generous man, and a very funny man.” They married in 1948 and within a few years had founded Old World Weavers, a business which allowed the couple to indulge in their passion for fabrics and travel. They flew between continents to source vintage and antique textiles for client bookings that steadily expanded to include Estée Lauder, Greta Garbo and no fewer than nine US presidents.