Fashion Influential #30: Diane Von Furstenburg
Diane von Furstenberg attends the MoMa film benefit gala at the Museum of Modern Art on November 10, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images North America)
DIANE VON FURSTENBERG
Born:
December 31, 1946 in Brussels, Belgium
Love affairs:
Prince Egon Von Furstenberg, Richard Gere, Warren Beatty, now married to Barry Diller
Fans:
Gwyneth Paltrow, Paris Hilton , Katherine Heigl, Lauren Conrad
Fan of:
Marlene Dietrich, Sarah Bernhardt, Jackie Kennedy, Mother Theresa
Beginnings.
Diane Von Furstenberg's iconic wrap dress was birthed out of necessity. Furstenberg was living in Italy, interning for a man who owned several textile factories, when she discovered she was pregnant by an international playboy. She moved to America to get married, but brought with her several samples from her internship, hoping to eventually sell her designs because, as she puts it, "I needed to be an independent woman." From those samples, she created the original wrap dress in a jersey animal print.
Career Highs.
Von Furstenberg ran with the cool kids of 1970s NYC: she counted Yves Saint Laurent and Bianca Jagger among her friends. One of them introduced her to legendary Vogue editrix Diana Vreeland, who helped to launch the Furstenberg wrap craze in 1973. A simple, flattering dress, the wrap became an international sensation and one of the most popular Studio 54 looks. Von Furstenberg quickly achieved celebrity status, appearing on the covers of Newsweek and Wall Street Journal.
[Style] doesn't just have to do with your appearance. It's your character too: Who you are, how you present yourself, how honest you are. It's your voice, the way you speak, the way you write. All of it makes you; therefore, you have a style.
- Diane Von Furstenberg
Diane Von Furstenberg Gallery
Career Lows.
The 1980s were not prosperous for the Von Furstenberg brand. The wrap dress was no longer sought-after in an era of power suits and shoulder pads, and the market had already reached saturation with the product. Von Furstenberg was forced to sell the company, which subsequently crashed and burned.
Legacy.
In the mid '90s, the fashion elite slowly returned to the wrap dress. Von Furstenberg chose to relaunch her label in 1997 at the insistence of her daughter, Tatiana, who had noticed starlets like Gwyneth Paltrow wearing vintage Von Furstenberg designs. Von Furstenberg's continued success proves that the simplest, most organic designs are often the most groundbreaking.
Diane Von Furstenberg Spring 2009 Collection.Get the Look.
The wrap dress is pretty easy to find thanks to Von Furstenberg's resurgence in popularity. If you can't afford a DVF original, look to stores like Banana Republic and J. Crew. Good vintage stores almost always carry Von Furstenberg designs, also. Choose a dress in a flattering fabric like jersey, which will hug your body. Try to find a fun geometric or animal print, if possible. - Alicia
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Diane von Furstenberg Pictures and Style
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