Diane von Fürstenberg is known for her iconic wrap dresses, which are still popular with many women. In honor of the 50th anniversary of these dresses, the Fashion & Lace Museum in Brussels has put on an exhibition about the designer, her career and her influence on fashion. What few people know is that von Fürstenberg was born in Brussels. FashionUnited takes a look at the designer’s life story.
Diane von Fürstenberg was born Diane Halfin in post-war Brussels in 1946 to a Jewish father and a Greek mother – an Auschwitz survivor who had been active in the Greek resistance to the Nazis. She attended the Lycée Dachsbeck in Brussels and then boarding schools in Switzerland and England. During her studies in Switzerland she met her future husband: Prince Eduard Egon von Fürstenberg (called Egon). They married in 1969 just before their son Alexander Egon was born. In 1973 they separated and in 1983 they officially divorced. Although Diane was no longer with her ex-husband, she kept his last name.
During her marriage, the designer moved to New York in 1970. Before that she had learned the art of tailoring, dyeing and designing fabrics from the Italian Angelo Ferretti. “Colors are letters, prints are words, and fabric and silhouettes make up the sentence,” von Fürstenberg said of the art of textiles. In Italy, she came up with the idea of printing jersey and turning a wrap blouse into a full dress. Encouraged by her husband, she began selling her designs in New York, whereupon the now iconic wrap dress became famous. The brand named after her is also known today by the acronym DVF.
Also thanks to the move to New York, Diane von Fürstenberg met the Vogue editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland. Vreeland saw a future in the designer’s wrap dresses and encouraged her to showcase her designs at fashion week. No sooner said than done: Von Fürstenberg has himself entered in the New York Fashion Week calendar. The collection is a hit and shortly after the launch of the wrap dresses, around 25,000 dresses are sold a week, according to business magazine Forbes. By 1976 von Fürstenberg had already sold a million dresses.
The dress provided a contrast to the unisex suiting of the 1970s, offering women a look that worked both at the disco and in the office. “Just put it on. Chic, comfortable and sexy. It doesn’t become obsolete after one season. It suits all kinds of occasions, it’s easy to carry and suits all occasions a woman can have,” von Furstenberg said of the dress. Her slogan is therefore “Feel feminine, wear a dress”, a phrase that can even be found on the cards that came with the dresses.
Who is Diane von Furstenberg?
The designer is also one of the first designers to bring her jet-set life to the fore. While many designers hid their wealth and origins up to this point, she uses both to sell a lifestyle to the public. The tactic didn’t initially catch on in the UK, but in the US her status as an ex-princess is helping her brand’s popularity.
Diane von Fürstenberg has secured a place in fashion history for herself with the wrap dress. She has received many awards for her efforts and influence. In 2005, for example, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). In 2015, she was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. 2020 was the year in which she was awarded the honorary title of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in France. Her birth country Belgium also awarded her an honorary title, the Order of the Crown, in 2021. Her most recent award is the one she received in March 2022 – the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Woman of Leadership Award. She received it for her “outstanding leadership skills and commitment to women”.
Together with her second husband Barry Diller, whom she married in 2001, she founded the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation. As part of this organization, they endow the DVF Awards, which honor and financially support women who demonstrate leadership, strength and courage to achieve their goals.
In addition to her work as a designer, von Fürstenberg is also a writer. She has written several books: ‘A Signature Life’, ‘The Woman I Wanted To Be’, ‘Own It’ and ‘The Secret to Life’.
This article was created using information from the books ‘The Fashion Book’, ‘The Great Fashion Encyclopaedia’, an article from The Business of Fashion and information from the Fashion and Lace Museum in Brussels.
This article was published on FashionUnited.nl. Translation and editing: Barbara Russ