Diane von Furstenberg on Empowering Women, Barry Diller, & Why She Won’t Get Plastic Surgery
Diane von Furstenberg a few decades back. (Photo: Instagram)
The morning after the sixth annual DVF Awards which took place at the United Nations on April 23rd, a graceful and authoritative Diane von Furstenberg stands in her sprawling office adorned with a sea of photo collages of her colorful life. Wearing black cat eye sunglasses, von Furstenberg reflects on the night’s amazing honorees including the Department of State’s first-ever ambassador-at-large for women’s issues Melanne Verveer, former U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords, founder of Women in Business Adi Tafuna’i; and Pakistani documentary filmmaker Samar Minallah Khan. “Truly what impresses me after the awards is how much these women do and how much they stretch whatever money or exposure you give them. Most of them have experienced something terrible or have seen something that has really affected them, and they’re just relentless in helping others,” she says. “These women make you feel like, ‘My god, I really haven’t done anything.’”
To make Diane von Furstenberg feel like she hasn’t done anything is quite a feat. The fashion designer has built an empire based on her innovative wrap dress. She has written two bestselling books inspiring women to create their own destiny and aim for independence. Through the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation and the DVF awards, she has supported a long list of women, charities, and causes focusing on education, public spaces, and human rights.
The DVF Awards are a prelude to von Furstenberg’s new chapter as she prepares to relinquish her role as CEO of the fashion empire. Announced this morning, Paolo Riva, who most recently served as Vice President Apparel and Visual Merchandising for Tory Burch LLC, will step into her shoes running the operations day-to-day. “Of course I’m still here but I’ll be building a bigger platform to use my exposure and voice for people who have no voice,” explains von Furstenberg. “I feel like I haven’t even really begun to do what I can for women and that’s what I’ll be doing the next few years of my life.”
One of those things may be supporting Hillary Clinton for President. Clinton spoke at the DVF awards and Diane weighed in on the candidate’s second run. “She’s an extraordinary woman. She’s very intelligent, knowledgeable and very eager. I think she would be a good president, absolutely,” she said. “Will she make it? I don’t know. They are after her but she’s enjoying it. She says, ‘I’m ready for it.’ When she left the White House she said, ‘I’m coming back and next time I’ll be on the other side of the bench.’”
Von Furstenberg is her own powerful force. Time just named her the one of the 100 most powerful people in the world. However, as a woman von Furstenberg admits that juggling family life and one of the most successful fashion businesses in history, hasn’t been easy. In her recent memoir, The Woman I Wanted to Be, she delves into the continual push and pull between motherhood and career. She had her son, Alexander, when she was just twenty-two and her daughter, Tatiana, was born thirteen months later. “I’m still pushed and pulled,” she says. “My son is forty-five and he’s upset because I’m not coming to California this weekend. I just wrote him a long email…so the push and pull of motherhood doesn’t change.” Von Furstenberg feels strongly however, that women not feel guilty for choosing to have a life of their own beyond their families. “It’s also important, to have that feeling that you’re also doing other things you enjoy, that feel like you, and it’s a good thing for kids; it makes them more independent.”
On love, von Furstenberg credits Barry Diller, co-partner of the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation and her husband since 2001 (the two have been involved off and on since the ‘70’s) for filling that part of her life. “Barry gets all the credit,” she says. “His love is so unconditional and has been all along. I get some credit, but as far as the relationship goes, he gets all the credit.”
Despite spending most of her adult life in the heart of an industry where models are abundant and looks are a focal point, the 68-year-old von Furstenberg has navigated aging coming from a place of confidence. “The moment of aging came. I went to visit a plastic surgeon to perhaps do this and that but then I knew I wouldn’t recognize myself,” she explains. “Even if I have a bit of swollen eyes I hate it, so I would rather be and look like me. I do facials but that’s it. Aging is living. The fact that you age means you live. I’m okay with that.”
Related:
At the DVF Awards: Hillary Clinton on Why Women Need to Lead
25 Famous Women on Female Friendship
Norma Kamali on the Power of Red Lipstick and Life in her Twenties
