Photographed by Erik Madigan Heck.
Oh, darling! Design legend Diane Von Furstenberg talks clothes, life, and love with Ken Downing.
Ken Downing : Do you know how much I love you? Do you realize what an enormous influence you have had on me from a very early age?
Diane von Furstenberg: Darling, you know I love you!
KD: Diane, you know my story of meeting you many years ago. It was 1974, perhaps 1976, when you were traveling the country launching your now famous wrap dress. My mother brought me to a department store in Seattle to meet you.
DVF: Darling, you must have been very young.
KD: I was very young—as were you.
DVF: The wrap dress was in jersey. I was not the first designer to create in jersey, certainly, but I loved how jersey molded to the body. It gave the dress a great sensuality, a sensual quality that makes the dress as modern today as when I designed it.
KD: I remember you in that wrap dress like it was yesterday. I might have been 8 or 9 years old at the time. You were the most glamorous and exotic woman I had ever seen—and, mind you, my mother was pretty glamorous in my eyes. You were like a feline behind a glass-top desk, with your long legs stretched to the side in suede boots.
DVF: I still wear suede boots, darling. [She kicks her legs from behind the desk to expose her suede boots.]
KD: Your wild mane of hair, that frosty eye makeup, that accent, and that wrap dress! I had never seen or heard anything like you! I was mesmerized.
DVF: That is so sweet you remember, darling.
KD: My mother pushed me to the edge of the desk. I was so nervous, so intimidated, yet captivated by your beauty, your presence. In that gorgeous accent, you asked me “Darling, darling, what are you doing here?” I replied, “I want to work in fashion.” You told me “Darling, you will! You can be anything you want to be.” I realized that day I had to work in fashion and be surrounded by people like you.
DVF, Spring 2013.
DVF: And look, darling, today you are a famous fashion director and we all work together.
KD: I don’t know about famous, but my destiny was certainly set because of your encouraging words—and, of course, a determined mother.
DVF: I am so happy we are friends—I love that I encouraged you.
KD: You encourage so many in our industry, not just me. You are like the Fairy Godmother of Fashion. When you became the president of the CFDA [Council of Fashion Designers of America] in 2006, you were the perfect choice. You are such a nurturing and loving individual. Your caring spirit is contagious.
DVF: We are all one big family in fashion, darling. Yes, we are competitive, but we are a family. I want for everyone to feel welcome. I want everyone to succeed. When I became the president of the CFDA, the first thing I did was to welcome many more designers to the CFDA. There is nothing like the CFDA anywhere else in the world. We are very fortunate to have such a great organization to support our American talents, to nurture emerging designers, and to help designers in so many ways. I am very proud of the talents that are in America.
KD: You being one of them! Your love of the industry, your love of life, your love of people is so inspiring.
DVF: Love is life, darling. That’s what I believe.
KD: And your shows—I love, love, love them! Your shows are one of the most exciting moments during New York Fashion Week. Your front row is the Who’s Who of the worlds of fashion, literature, art, news media. There is a chaotic, joyous pandemonium that fills the tent. So much anticipation and so much love for you, your show. It really is like being with family.
DVF: It is family, darling. I surround myself with love—people I love, the things I love, work I love. I always tell the girls, “Smile, be happy, joyous!” No one ever tells the models to smile. I want the show to be fun and filled with love. I want people to feel the love of DVF and the happiness my clothes can bring.
KD: Your spring runway show was full of color and confidence; it was intoxicating.
DVF: The theme was “Palazzo,” inspired by my travel and faraway places.
Ken and Diane at DVF's studio in NYC.
KD: I don’t know how you do all you do. You are always on a plane, off to China, Brazil, Bhutan…
DVF: I find inspiration when I travel, the cultures, the people.
KD: You are the original bohemian!
DVF: I love to wander the world and find inspiration. Nature always inspires me as well.
KD: And you love color, it is one of your trademarks and, of course, your love of prints. I was crazy for the combinations of turquoise blue, the bright greens, and how you mixed pale apricot with bright orange. Aqua with orange, outrageous! You know how insane I am for orange this season—it is my new neutral.
DVF: And black and white! Black and white is very DVF, especially with pink. Black and white is such a perfect base of a women’s wardrobe. It’s graphic, and color plays so wonderfully against it.
KD: There is nothing more chic than black and white. And, of course, I adore hot pink always!
DVF: Every shade of pink, darling. Color is so inspiring to me. I find inspirations everywhere.
KD: Your studio here in New York’s Meatpacking District is visual stimulation at every turn.
DVF: It is very eclectic, full of many memories and souvenirs.
KD: Do you find you are inspired to create by what is missing in your own wardrobe?
DVF: I was told by a dear friend, a fashion designer who is a man, this is why I am comfortable saying this to you: “Men design costumes, women design clothes.” I am always thinking about what I want to wear next, how to make my wardrobe, a woman’s wardrobe, easy, effortless. When a woman opens her closet, she should see her friends—clothes she loves and loves to wear. That is what DVF is all about. Great clothes. Great color. Clothes that make her confident, that make her seductive, that make her beautiful!
KD: What more could a woman want?
DVF: Love is life, darling!
