Diane Von Furstenberg on Her Design Success & Mother’s Big Influence

Legendary designer Diane Von Furstenberg has spoken on her long, very successful career. The designer, who first created the iconic wrap dress, says she feels very lucky for everything she has and thinks she has had “a man’s life in a woman’s body” because of everything she’s achieved, while also balancing a life at home. She explained:

”It’s my vengeance. I was my mother’s vengeance and this is my vengeance. I was lucky to be successful, I was lucky to be independent, and I was lucky to be able to say, you know what, I have two children, I have a tycoon, I have a man’s life in a woman’s body, and I got that, and I’m so happy I got that.”

Diane opened up on her mother’s 1990 death, commenting that she has only seen how much her mother influenced her after she passed away. She has noticed that her mother passed on the ability to flip around negative experiences and turns them in to something upbeat. She candidly spoke on the subject:

”As a daughter you really only understand the true impact of your mother after she dies. That’s when I realised the strength of my mother and how much strength she gave me, and how much I am like her. One thing that my mother did, and that is a habit in my life, is that when something unpleasant happens somehow I deal with it, and then, because I deal with it, I’ve transformed it into something good. People ask, ‘What are the biggest challenges in your life?’ I never know what to say, because every day’s a challenge and you just have to embrace it.”