Iris Apfel debuted her handbag collection, Extinctions by Iris Apfel, last night at the Empire Room to a group of editors, buyers, and friends. Her design inspiration for the line came from a Mongolian lamb hat and coat by Lanvin that she discovered on one of her trips to Paris in the early seventies. “I literally stopped traffic because nobody had seen anything like it before. Since the hat was several shades of grey — just like my hair at that particular time — you couldn’t tell where I ended and the hat began Michael Kors Handbags. It was fabulous,” says Apfel, who is now 90 years old, in a press release. The fourteen bags, produced with Lisa Nunziata, president of L & Leung Design Group, come in jewel tones like deep red and burnt orange, and they're rendered in materials like calf hair, snakeskin, and Mongolian wool. They're lined in turquoise silk, because it’s Apfel’s favorite color, and come with hangtags of the label’s logo — a dodo bird. Read our Q&A with Apfel, plus see images of the complete collection, which ranges from $330 to $640 and hits stores in the fall.

Do you have a favorite bag that you’ve ever owned Michael Kors Sale?

Well, I had made this one [she holds it up] years and years ago. It’s Mongolian, and I love it. But it’s all chewed up. This was the basis of everything. I bought the skin in Paris, and I made it.

Do you remember what year you made it?

Come on now, don’t be rude! A long time ago.

Why did you decide to call your bag line Extinctions?

Well, when Lisa [Nunziata] did the first bag for me for Home Shopping [Network], I was so overwhelmed by how beautifully done it was, especially the interior. I called her up and I said, "I just can’t believe it, it’s made like a $3,000 handbag." And she said, "Yes, I’m very passionate about what I do … I was telling my staff that I think I might be the last of a dying breed." So I said, "If you’re the last of a dying breed, I must already be extinct!" We had a good laugh at that, and then she said, “I like working with you. How would you like to do a handbag line with me?” And I said, “Oh, I’d love it.” And as I joke I said, “You’re the end of a dying breed, I’m already extinct, let’s call it Extinctions. We thought of having a dinosaur for the logo, but we must’ve looked at ten books, and we couldn’t find a pretty or a sexy dinosaur. So, I was talking about this problem at a dinner party, and a friend said Michael Kors Jet Set, “You’re the rare bird. What’s wrong with a dodo?”