Diane von Furstenberg: Career, Love, Life, Style

Iconic fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg talks about her personal life in the latest interview with Harper's Bazaar.


In an article entitled Diane von Fursteberg: Unwrapped, the 62 year-old designer who became a legend for her hallmark wrap dress (now in the collection of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art) shares her insight on love, career, and style.

Born from an upper-class Jewish family as Diane Simone Michelle Halfin, she married Prince Egon of Fürstenberg. Not wanting to rely on his husband's power and wealth, she decided to have a career of her own and began designing women's clothes. She introduced the knitted jersey "wrap dress" in 1973 that made her an overnight fashion sensation. Her fashion business suffered significant snafu in the 1980s but she made a successful comeback in 1997 as she rebuilt her company. She remarried in 2001 to her long-time love, American media mogul Barry Diller. Following a triumphant relaunching of her high-end line, she was awarded a lifetime achievement award in 2006 by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and became its president a year later.

With a legendary name under her belt, Harper's Bazaar's first interview question was, "Do you ever want to give it all up?"

Known for being candid, coquettish, feline, outspoken strong, and powerful, Diane von Furstenberg answers:

"I don't think I have been more active ever than I am now. I've never been busier. I've never worked harder.

"And Barry asked me why. But I'm loving my life right now. And I just need 20 years more than whatever is assigned to me, because I feel that there's so much that I want to do.

"The wonderful thing about my life right now is just that it feels so coherent. Obviously, first there's my children, and I'm so proud of them. And they are fully grown up, they are aging, and they have children. So I can really say that, okay, they turned out well. My son is a great financier; he's very successful. My daughter is a filmmaker. So I'm very accomplished as a mother and as a grandmother.

"Ten years ago I started my business again after having stopped, and I'm very accomplished in my business. And I have great satisfaction because the older I get, the younger my consumers are. And that's kind of fun, and that's kind of keeping me young and making me relevant.

"And then as a woman, you know, my great discovery right now is that the biggest gift in life is to be able to give. I realize that I can make one phone call that doesn't cost me anything and change someone's life."

Excerpts of Harper's Bazaar's interview with Diane von Furstenberg:

CAREER

What has your mission been?

"To empower women. Why? Because I wanted to be an empowered woman, and I became an empowered woman. And now I want to empower every woman. And I do it through my clothes, I do it through my words, I do it through my money, I do it through everything."

Now, you realize that you're a commanding, magnetic presence. Were you always like that?

"You don't see yourself like that. Nobody does. You know, there's a thing about the woman across the room. You see the woman across the room, you think, She's so poised; she's so together. But she looks at you and you are the woman across the room for her."

LOVE

Who would you say is the love of your life?

"My children. And Barry. But my children first, I will say for sure."

So what do you think the secret to a successful marriage is?

"Respect. And space."

What would you say is your favorite thing about being married?

"I don't know. No one's ever asked me that. I mean, I don't particularly like to be married. I don't know. It feels very natural. I don't feel like I'm a prisoner. So the things I like the best about being married are probably the things that aren't very typical about being married. I can't believe I married twice. I so don't care about being married."

LIFE

How do you feel about the aging process?

"I'm so attracted to women with wrinkles. I think the pendulum is going to go the other way. For men, it was always more beautiful. And I'm not saying you want to look like Louise Bourgeois or Georgia O'Keeffe, but still, it's ... it's better to be you. To try to keep a young body — that's getting very difficult."

Do you watch what you eat?

"Yes. No. I do, because I like to eat healthy. But I like chocolate. I like black chocolate, but that's just part of being Belgian."

After that, in 1989, you moved back to New York. Did you lose yourself for a while?

"A bit. But I didn't realize it until I came back. So it's when I came back to New York that I saw I had kind of lost that identity that I had from the minute I first arrived in New York and I was this success.

"And all of a sudden I came back to New York. It's the '80s, Ivana Trump and all these people are everywhere, and greed has become a virtue. I just felt completely irrelevant. And people looked at me like I was a has-been. I tried to get my business back, it was in the hands of people who didn't care, it had lost its spirit, it was horrible. It was the worst time. And it was really hard and really bad. And as a result I got cancer in my tongue — and I think it was because I was unable to express myself."

Did you ever feel like you had failed at anything?

"You know, I probably have, but I have a very funny way of processing obstacles and bad things. I somehow make them work for me. And I have very little memory for pain or things like that. I process things that are not good and I make them work for me."

How do you find your peace?

"I need silence, I need solitude. I love to be in the country. I found my peace in my house in the country, Cloudwalk. I love to hike, I love to swim, I love to read. I find my peace within silence. I don't know how people do it. But if on weekends I had to have a social life, I couldn't do that."

STYLE

How would you describe your own style?

"I like to think that my style and the clothes I design are effortlessly elegant and sexy. I think the word effortless is very important. I think that that creates an ease and a confidence, because I think there's nothing more beautiful than a woman who's confident.

"My wrap dress was almost accidental. It's the most traditional shape, like the kimono shape, no buttons or zipper, and it wraps. But what was different about it is that it was made in jersey, and it was tied to the body, and therefore it kind of sculpted the body. And then because it was in a snake and a leopard print, it made you look feline. I've touched so many generations with just that one dress, which is unique. I mean, no one has ever had such a thing.

"But then from there, I think I have become a pro. And I understand fabric very well. And I understand color very well, and print and shapes. And I work with young designers and Nathan [Jenden, her creative director] and my team from Central Saint Martins. And it's wonderful because it's really so nourishing for me, for them. I'm surrounded with young people. I never see people my age. It keeps me very young and relevant. But at the same time, I have so much to give them."

Did you always think of yourself as a designer?

"I was shy about considering myself a designer because I didn't study design. And it was circumstances that took me there. But now, after all these years, I know I am a designer. And I know what I'm doing."

What do you feel is the greatest lesson that you've learned?

"In life? It's funny, but I think that I have learned that to be kind, to give, is the best gift. I think that's the big lesson. I'm lucky, because early on I realized that I should be my best friend. That's the lesson that I would like to give everybody."