Our latest style icon, Diane von Furstenberg, is a true role model in every sense of the term. The fashion designer, entrepreneur, model, author, philanthropist, social activist, and former princess created a global empire by celebrating the natural beauty and spirit of women. Her gorgeous, feminine take on fashion, grounded personality, and work ethic have made her one of the most successful and beloved designers of all time. Her fashions are favorites of everyone from celebrities like Kate Beckinsale and Michelle Obama to the everyday woman.
von Furstenberg credits her mother, a Greek-born Holocaust survivor, with encouraging her to be fearless, independent, and to face any challenge with confidence and poise. She’s demonstrated those traits to the world ever since. After studying both economics and textile design she married German Prince (and fashion designer) Egon of Fürstenberg in 1969. Not content with being the wife of a prince, a 24-year-old von Furstenberg launched her own fashion company in 1970. Operating on a shoestring budget, von Furstenberg sat for early promotional photos (although her svelte, shapely body, flowing hair, and dramatic bone structure could rival any trained model), making her both the brains and the public face of the organization.
Her first dress to gain popularity was a sweater dress named “Angela,” after activist Angela Davis, but it was her 1974 invention that really catapulted her career. Nearly forty years after its introduction to the market, the wrap dress is a ubiquitous look due to its versatility, its ease-of-wear, and the fact that it looks ravishing and feminine on virtually any woman’s body. Indeed, the wrap dress is iconic it is included in a collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. During a long hiatus from, in the 1990s von Furstenberg noticed younger generations of women were buying up her now-vintage collection, and decided to revamp her line for contemporary consumers. The launch proved to be even more successful than in her early days, further cementing von Furstenberg’s career-long transition from princess to queen of style.
Now in her late-60s, von Furstenberg is as stunning and glamorous as ever. She remains astonishingly hard working and passionate, both about style and about nurturing the work of other women. Along with running her business, von Furstenberg has served as the president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, sits on the board of international women’s leadership group Vital Voices, and her own Diane von Furstenberg Foundation hosts an annual awards program to highlight the inspirational female figures and social activists throughout the world.
In the end, though, Diane von Furstenberg is as inspirational as any of the women she applauds through her philanthropic endeavors, and a symbol of femininity, beauty, and power. As she has famously said, “I became the woman I wanted to be.”
Diane von Furstenberg: A True Model
Our latest style icon, Diane von Furstenberg, is a true role model in every sense of the term. The fashion designer, entrepreneur, model, author, philanthropist, social activist, and former princess created a global empire by celebrating the natural beauty and spirit of women. Her gorgeous, feminine take on fashion, grounded personality, and work ethic have made her one of the most successful and beloved designers of all time. Her fashions are favorites of everyone from celebrities like Kate Beckinsale and Michelle Obama to the everyday woman.
von Furstenberg credits her mother, a Greek-born Holocaust survivor, with encouraging her to be fearless, independent, and to face any challenge with confidence and poise. She’s demonstrated those traits to the world ever since. After studying both economics and textile design she married German Prince (and fashion designer) Egon of Fürstenberg in 1969. Not content with being the wife of a prince, a 24-year-old von Furstenberg launched her own fashion company in 1970. Operating on a shoestring budget, von Furstenberg sat for early promotional photos (although her svelte, shapely body, flowing hair, and dramatic bone structure could rival any trained model), making her both the brains and the public face of the organization.
Her first dress to gain popularity was a sweater dress named “Angela,” after activist Angela Davis, but it was her 1974 invention that really catapulted her career. Nearly forty years after its introduction to the market, the wrap dress is a ubiquitous look due to its versatility, its ease-of-wear, and the fact that it looks ravishing and feminine on virtually any woman’s body. Indeed, the wrap dress is iconic it is included in a collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. During a long hiatus from, in the 1990s von Furstenberg noticed younger generations of women were buying up her now-vintage collection, and decided to revamp her line for contemporary consumers. The launch proved to be even more successful than in her early days, further cementing von Furstenberg’s career-long transition from princess to queen of style.
Now in her late-60s, von Furstenberg is as stunning and glamorous as ever. She remains astonishingly hard working and passionate, both about style and about nurturing the work of other women. Along with running her business, von Furstenberg has served as the president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, sits on the board of international women’s leadership group Vital Voices, and her own Diane von Furstenberg Foundation hosts an annual awards program to highlight the inspirational female figures and social activists throughout the world.
In the end, though, Diane von Furstenberg is as inspirational as any of the women she applauds through her philanthropic endeavors, and a symbol of femininity, beauty, and power. As she has famously said, “I became the woman I wanted to be.”
Photo Credits: Andy Warhol, Seth Wenig / AP
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