THE CHIC LIST: My first designer love, and the woman who sparked it By Joanne Hegarty For You Magazine Published: 12:01 BST, 13 July 2024 | Updated: 12:01 BST, 13 July 2024 e-mail The Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress was my first designer purchase a decade ago. I remember my excitement visiting her vibey store in New York’s Meat Packing district. The Duchess of Cambridge had just worn one in Australia.
Likewise Michelle Obama , on an early White House Christmas card. Sarah Jessica Parker had also put the world to rights in one on Sex and the City and Jennifer Aniston had served coffee in a leopard wrap in Central Perk on Friends . Fast-forward to today and, at the start of Woman in Charge , the new Disney+ documentary on her life, Von Furstenberg, with just-out-of-bed-hair, climbs into her vast bathroom sink where she regularly sits to put on her make-up.
Now 77, the fashion legend looks at her face closely in the mirror and asks, ‘Why do so many people not embrace age?’, adding that wrinkles are ‘a map of life’. True to her word, she is often seen wearing little make-up on her Instagram ( @therealdvf ). Top, Mint Velvet, Shorts and Hat, Cos Watching the film, it’s hard not to fall in love with this kickass boss lady, whose iconic dress was inspired by ballerinas’ wrap tops.
After debuting her design in 1974, it appeared in Women’s Wear Daily with her slogan ‘Feel like a woman, wear a dress!’ Fifty years on, young women are scouring vintage shops for her o.