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Bloomberg

She is 78 and, in her words, “still kicking”.
Four years after handing operations to Chinese licensee Glamel, Diane von Furstenberg has taken back control of Diane Von Furstenberg Studio LP.
The designer, feminist, businesswoman and philanthropist is reclaiming her brand with her signature touch: a focus on quality fabrics, colourful prints and clothes with attitude.
DVF recently sat down for a freewheeling chat that touched on the iconic wrap dress, the American dream and what the world needs in this age of rage.
Immigration is really the essence of America
Diane von Furstenberg
You came to America as a young immigrant with a suitcase full of dresses …
I lived the American dream. I immigrated, but I wasn’t really a refugee. But my parents were refugees when they went to Belgium, and I remember my father always saying you have to be kind to refugees.

Immigration is really the essence of America. For 10 years, I was the godmother of the Statue of Liberty – I helped them to make the museum.
You started your business at a time when women were not allowed to get a bank business loan without the accompanying signature of a male relative. You took a lot of risks.
When you start, you start. You have little to lose and you invent yourself every day. And there’s no such thing as “Oooh, I am successful and will stay successful”. You are successful, then you have a setback. That’s why agility is important and you need to be true to yourself.
When you have had setbacks, how have you turned despondency into motivation?
My mother survived the concentration camp [in Germany during the second world war] when she was 21. So whenever I complain, I think of my mother and that puts everything into perspective. She taught me two things. Fear is not an option. And never be a victim.

We have to talk about the wrap dress. We are now marking 51 years of this iconic garment. What is it about this dress that has endured through generations?
I created this dress, but really this dress created me. Because without the dress I wouldn’t be as successful.
It was a very simple dress that came at a very special time. It wasn’t very expensive but was made from very good fabric.
I wonder how many small, ridiculous handbags people need. I think everybody has to try to do things in moderation and be conscious.
Diane von Furstenberg
I went around selling that dress and it became a huge success. The success gave me confidence, and I made millions of people confident in the dress.
So from the very beginning, it was a dialogue with women. I was always telling the truth. Sometimes it was provocative. You can never go wrong by saying the truth.
This month, I am starting a new era of DVF, because I took control. I took the very best of my old team, and I have a great new CEO, and it’s starting again.


Tell me about the new collection. Is it going to be different from anything you have done before?
It’s very, very much DVF. Focusing on the quality of the fabric and the print and then the silhouette. Effortless, on the go.
The crazy thing is yesterday I had lunch with a very wonderful writer. He’s 85 years old, and he says to me, his mother – obviously she’s dead, she would be 110 today – his mother was a huge fan of mine.
That means I am already on my fifth generation. And strangely enough, the early 20s are now discovering it.
Which also means that your dresses, your clothes, are sustainable.
That is another thing that’s important. If you go to any vintage store, you can buy dresses that have already had two different owners. In other words, two generations. The quality of the fabric will make it so that people don’t throw it away.


What incentive should fashion houses have to make sustainability a priority?
Quality makes a difference, and frankly I wonder how many small, ridiculous handbags people need. I think everybody has to try to do things in moderation and be conscious. Everybody has to make an effort not to sell s***.
I also want to talk to you about ageism. Are you more optimistic about the way society views older people, older women in particular?
For me, age is life. So to age means that you have lived. I really thought that I was going to die before I was 30 – because I had done so much by the time I was 27.
I refuse to be angry. I refuse to be conflictual. The only thing I can do is offer the alternative of kindness. And kindness is sexy.
Diane von Furstenberg
I used to tell my children, “You have to be independent, because I could die.” They would look at me crying, and I would say, “I don’t intend to.”
Instead, now I’m 78 and I’m still kicking, right?
Really, the way I’ve lived, I should be 300. You have to own it. Age means that you have lived.


You say that instead of being asked “How old are you?” there is a better way to ask that question, right?
“How long have you lived?” Even to a child, if you say, “How long have you lived?” “10 years!” 10 years – that’s great, really. I announce my age even when I meet the person in the elevator.
How do you manage everything? How do you fit it all into your life?
I improvise a lot, but oh yes, the one thing I need is time, time on my own. I couldn’t survive if I didn’t count on the relationship I have with me. You cannot sacrifice that.
So how do you find time to connect with yourself?
I swim, I go on a long walk. I just need time. Sometimes I just close the bathroom door. Oh, and I write in my diary.


If you could add another chapter to your memoirs – A Signature Life and The Woman I Wanted to Be – what would the focus be?
Kindness. It would be about kindness. That’s what I’m working on now.
The most important thing is to be in charge. And to be in charge is owning who you are. You own your imperfections. They become your asset. You own your vulnerability, you turn it into strength.
That is a practice that you have to do every day, not to lose yourself. Then you can go and pay attention to others and connect and expand and inspire and advocate.
The world right now is so macho, aggressive, whatever. I refuse to be angry. I refuse to be conflictual. The only thing I can do is offer the alternative of kindness. And kindness is not dumb. It is sexy.


Meet the Notorious B.I.G.’s adult children, T’yanna and C.J.: they each honour their father in their own ways, starting fashion and cannabis companies – C.J. also portrayed his dad on the ‘B.I.G.’ screen

Meet Kim Kardashian’s stylist bestie Simone Harouche: she was with Kim during her Paris kidnapping ordeal, styled her stunning Versace look at the 2018 Met Gala, and has also worked with Miley Cyrus

Meet Selena Gomez’s friend and former assistant Theresa Mingus: the singer’s bestie was recently spotted at Benny Blanco’s birthday party, used to be Kim Kardashian’s PA, and has her own swimwear line

Style Edit: Hermès’ new high jewellery collection, Les Formes de la Couleur, translates Pierre Hardy’s take on colour theory into wearable art featuring diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires

Fashion

‘Fear is not an option’ for fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, ‘still kicking’ at 78

Diane von Furstenberg in 2023. The fashion designer reflects on her mother’s experiences in a German concentration camp, creating the wrap dress, and taking back control of her fashion business at the age of 78. Photo: AFP

Naomi Campbell presents a creation from the Diane von Furstenberg spring/summer 2014 collection at New York Fashion Week in 2013. Photo: Reuters

Instagram founder and CEO Kevin Systrom and Diane von Furstenberg at the 2015 CFDA Fashion Awards in New York. Photo: AFP

A model wears a wrap dress from the Diane von Furstenberg spring 2006 collection during Fashion Week in New York in 2005. Photo: Reuters

Models show looks from the 2014 Diane von Furstenberg collection during New York Fashion Week in 2014. Photo: Reuters

Looks from the Diane Von Furstenberg Lunar New Year 2021 capsule collection. Photo: Diane Von Furstenberg

A look from the winter 2020 Diane Von Furstenberg collection. Photo: Diane Von Furstenberg

A model wears a creation by Diane von Furstenberg at Fashion Week in New York in 2007. Photo: AFP

Models in creations of Diane Von Furstenberg during a fashion show at the 22nd Dalian International Costume Festival in China, 2011. Photo: Xinhua

A model in a dress from the Diane Von Furstenberg spring 2009 collection during New York Fashion Week in 2008. Photo: Reuters

Diane von Furstenberg and husband Barry Diller on the red carpet for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute’s benefit celebrating the exhibit “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between” in New York in 2017. Photo: EPA

Paul Simon announces North American comeback tour 7 years after quitting the road

Paul Simon performs in Washington in 2024. News of a tour by the singer, 83, comes after hearing loss made playing again seem impossible. Seven years ago he did a “farewell tour” and said he would not go on the road again. Photo: Getty Images/TNS

How Chinese culture has influenced Western fashion designers from Gucci to Louis Vuitton

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s China: Through the Looking Glass exhibition in 2015 showed the influence Chinese culture has had on Western designers. Photo: courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

A Tom Ford evening dress from Yves Saint Laurent’s autumn-winter 2004 collection. 

A Roberto Cavalli evening dress from its autumn/winter 2005 collection. Photo: MET

No more new clothes: why a fast-fashion addict gave up shopping

South Korean Lee So-yeon was a fast-fashion shopaholic before she found out how wasteful it was. She has not bought any new clothes for the past six years. Photo: AFP

A huge pile of discarded garments, bedding, soft toys and accessories in a South Korean warehouse, before being exported overseas. Photo: AFP

South Korean climate activist Lee So-yeon has not bought any new clothes for the past six years; her wardrobe consists of used items she received from friends and family. Photo: AFP

Employees categorise garments, bedding, soft toys and accessories before they are exported overseas, at a second-hand clothing facility in Paju, near Seoul, South Korea. Photo: AFP

South Korea is the fifth largest exporter of used clothing in the world, and many people there treat used clothing collection bins “as just a trash can”, says Kim Dong-hyun, an exporter of used clothes. Photo: AFP

Bruce Springsteen, 75, follows the Omad diet, but could you live on one meal a day?

Bruce Springsteen, 75, at an October 2024 rally for Democratic Party presidential candidate Kamala Harris in the US state of Georgia. Springsteen credits his fitness to following the Omad (one meal a day) diet. Photo: Reuters

Bruce Springsteen onstage in Las Vegas, looking very healthy at 75 years old. Photo: Getty Images

Eating “one meal a day is not a good idea”, says Brigham and Women’s Hospital obesity specialist Dr Caroline Apovian. Photo: Boston University

The Omad diet may not be suitable for some people, in which case the Mediterranean diet could be a better option. Photo: Shutterstock

Lifestyle

Fashion & Beauty

The fashion designer reflects on risk taking, what her mother’s experiences taught her, and creating a dress still popular 51 years on


The fashion designer reflects on risk taking, what her mother’s experiences taught her, and creating a dress still popular 51 years on.


Fame and celebrity

United States

Sustainability

Green living