The word "doyen" is bandied about thoughtlessly these days, attributed to many whose worth could possibly be questioned.
Diane von Furstenberg is not one of those. Utterly deserving of the title, she's built an empire out of a single dress, empowered and continues to inspire women, and helms one of the most prestigious fashion organisations in the US. She looks towards art, inspires art and creates art. Other designers turn to her for inspiration, celebrities flock to wear her frocks and now her clients in the Middle East have access to a greater range, as she's just opened her first standalone boutique in Dubai.
Occupying a prominent position in the women's liberation movement, Von Furstenberg once said: "I've always wanted to live a man's life in a woman's body."
On a recent Thursday, she explains: "That's a way of saying that it was very important to me to be financially independent and have my life, without my father or my husband footing the bill."
DvF, as she is popularly referred to, embodied the confidence she's come to symbolise through her designs as she sat on a couch surrounded by her creations in the Mall of the Emirates' new Fashion Dome. "Well, you know," she says about locating her first store in the region in the UAE, "Dubai is clearly the centre of shopping and the centre of fashion."
Already sold at Boutique 1 stores, she admits her items are "very popular, and doing very well".
"I have quite a few boutiques around the big stores. So it was very much time to have my own. So here it is!"
‘With or without?'
Visibly giddy, the excitement she struggles to contain at this pronouncement belies the stern demeanour the photographer has warned me about. "That's her spot, right there on the couch," he said when we were discussing angles. "She doesn't move around or anything, and that's the shot all the photographers get."
At our turn, however, Von Furstenberg is warm and amicable, offers to pose next to a rack and even asks him, "With sunglasses or without?"
That said, it would be foolish to think she's not in complete control of her environment. Some way into the interview, the videographer circles too far to her right and Von Furstenberg admonishes her mid-sentence, "I think you'd better go to the other side," and cocks her head to her left. "It's better," she smiles.
Her Belgian heritage still tinges her distinct American speech." It is not my first visit to the region," she says. "The Middle East is very nice, very pleasant."
Would she consider incorporating elements from the region in her designs? "I am thinking about it," Von Furstenberg says. "Yesterday was very interesting; I spoke at Zayed University to about 150 young women and hopefully I was inspiring to them, but they were also very inspiring to me. And I was definitely inspired to do something especially for the Middle East.
"But at the moment that's still just a little idea in my head."
DvF has just appointed a new Creative Director in Gucci, Lanvin and Chloé alum Yvan Mispelaere. "I'm very excited about him," she says. "Our first collection will be in stores in February, the spring collection, and it's very exciting.
"I was actually looking for the right person for the last three years. And I did it very much on my own. It's a long process, because it's a very difficult process when you hire a creative director. It's not like hiring an accountant or something, you know.
"Yvan was the right choice and I'm very happy."
Celebrating nature
They named the collection Goddess. "Well, what is goddess — every woman is a goddess," says the 63-year-old-designer.
The pair's first outing was in Paris, to an exhibition of Isadora Duncan, who is widely believed to be the creator of modern dance. "She was a dancer at the beginning of the 20th century, and she was very free. She had dancing schools and they danced barefoot, they very much worshipped antiquity and worshipped Greece and nature and all that. So [the collection, Goddess], is very much a celebration of nature, and beauty, and the sky and the elements and the sun and all of that."
I ask about her appointing a man, in Mispelaere (whose predecessor was Nathan Jenden) to head up the bastion of women's empowerment that is DvF, the brand. "Yes, I am..." she searches for the right word, "comfortable with that. Listen, in our company we are 97 per cent women, so we have a lot of women. We could use a few men too!"
Fashion as well as actual royalty, Von Furstenberg launched what would become a global luxury lifestyle brand in 1972 with the wrap dress, a copy of which (pictured left) forms part of the Timeline of Art History collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art. In 2005, she was honoured by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, CFDA, a trade organisation of the most prominent American designers, with its lifetime achievement award.
A year later, she was elected president of the body, which nurtures the US' future designers. "As you become older, your experience is of value to you, but it's also of value to other people," says Von Furstenberg.
"So I became president of the CFDA, because my experience, my connections, all of the things that I can do, my knowhow — all of that can benefit other young designers.
"By being the president, I run the organisation, I do all kinds of things. We lobby in congress to protect our rights, to protect our designs against piracy. There is a fund which promotes young designers, we raise money, we do a lot of things — it's just endless."
That aside, Von Furstenberg maintains her hands-on involvement in the brand that carries her name. The next year, she says, there will be a stronger focus on accessories, as well as a new fragrance. "I'm also going into home design, so we're very busy."
Asked how her design philosophy has evolved over the years, she says, "It's pretty much the same. My mission in designing for women is to honour women. I care about making clothes that will flatter women.
"My whole goal is to make women feel more confident."
Does she have any plans to go into menswear? "No," she says firmly.
Then reiterates, "No. That I will not do. I don't want to be in menswear, I don't want to be in childrenswear,
"I just want to focus on women, which is something I understand and that I do well."
Very well at least, if her standing in the fashion world is anything to go by. And she's achieved it without a father or husband in sight.
Celebs in fashion
"It's always been a trend, right now maybe a little bit more. But some come, some go. At the end, it's always about the substance. If they are good and if they offer something that's good, it's going to survive.
"I think the Olsen sisters [Mary-Kate and Ashley] (right) have proven that they work very, very hard and they're good. I think Victoria Beckham is good... There are some people who are good... And we'll see!"
The Crop of new designers
"Last year, I was a mentor for Alexander Wang (far right), so I was involved in bringing him to the next level. He's very talented. I think the Rodarte sisters [Kate and Laura Mulleavy] (right and below) are incredibly talented. But, as president of the CFDA I don't think I should favour any designer."
The Wrap dress — a blessing or a curse?
When people think about Diane von Furstenberg, they think about the iconic wrap dress, and vice versa.
Does DvF ever feel that the dress that launched her has also held her back? "No," she says with finality. "To think of it as a curse would be very ungrateful.
"There was a time I kept thinking, ‘Why do they keep on saying that.' But yet, also I don't think a dress had ever had such staying power. Ever.
"One of my very first dresses was of me sitting on a cube in a dress with a chain-link print, and I redid this print last year and last year our First Lady, Michelle Obama, wore it for her Christmas card. That is pretty amazing," she says incredulously, as if she too is still coming to grips with the impact she's continuing to have.
Speaking the DvF language
Diane von Furstenberg says she is very happy with Yvan Mispelaere joining the DvF family as Creative Director. But how does it work having somebody else translating her vision?
"First of all, you don't work alone," she explains.
"We have a big design department with about 18 designers. But I wanted to find someone who could be at the helm and who had an interesting journey, because I have so much to offer. I have so many ingredients, so much archived.
"There's a language of DvF clothes, there's a DNA, there's a lot of things, so you have to give all this information. And you want to give this information to somebody who you think can interpret it great and bring it to another level, so that you continue to grow.
"I feel very confident that Yvan will do that."
