Diane von Furstenberg

by Gioia Diliberto

  173“Why’d you get me” and following: Julie Baumgold, “Diane Von Furstenberg and Her Jungle Romance, New York, May 4, 1981.

  173“It was a major revelation”: JTA, Global Jewish News Source, March 3, 2013.

  174“to be shy and tender”: Von Furstenberg, Diane, p. 155.

  174“too big a package”: Baumgold, “Diane von Furstenberg.”

  Volcano of Love

  176“Diane is wearing” and following: Olivier Gelbsman to the author, February 11, 2013.

  176“this guy she met”: Fran Lebowitz to the author, April 1, 2011.

  177“I’m purifying”: Julie Baumgold, “Diane von Furstenberg and Her Jungle Romance, New York, May 4, 1981.

  177“in a factory”: Gary Savage to the author, June 8, 2011.

  178“particularly pleasant”: Savage to the author.

  178“Everything about it”: Rose Marie Bravo to the author, November 1, 2010.

  178“Why don’t you wear”: Diane von Furstenberg, Diane: A Signature Life (New York, Simon & Schuster, 2009), p. 168.

  178“Diane is the most romantic”: Fran Lebowitz to the author, April 1, 2011.

  179“He was a nice guy”: Savage to the author.

  179“He was always”: Sally Randall to the author, July 28, 2011.

  179“people were dying” and following: TVF to the author, June 15, 2013.

  179“taking my skateboard” and following: AVF to the author, June 17, 2013.

  179“my currency” and following: TVF to the author, June 15, 2013.

  180“my mom let him” and following: AVF to the author, June 17, 2013.

  180“I’m so glad you’re here” and following: DVF to the author, October 3, 2014.

  180“He was barely thirty”: DVF to the author, October 3, 2014.

  180“told me she was”: Ibid.

  181“Suddenly, all I saw” and following: Von Furstenberg, Diane: A Signature Life, p. 171.

  181“I wasn’t involved”: Barry Diller to the author, July 15, 2013.

  182“a shrine to Venus”: Bobby Queen, “The Newest Boutiques,” WWD, November 30, 1984.

  182“not to count on a May”: Warhol, Warhol Diaires, p. 567.

  182“fairly thin and fairly rich,” Bernadine Morris, “Diane von Furstenberg: Couture in a New Shop,” New York Times, December 7, 1984.

  183“You know what people” Manhattan, Inc. February, 1985.

  183“Standouts in the designer’s”: “Emperor Collection,” WWD, October 29, 1984.

  184“Andy Warhol”: Warhol, Warhol Diaries, p. 714.

  184“My mom fell”: AVF to the author, June 17, 2013.

  184“He had no chin” and following: DVF to the author, October 3, 2014.

  184“I was just out”: Alain Elkann to the author, February 11, 2013.

  185“Paulo was very upset” and following: DVF to the author, October 3, 2014.

  185“I got a call” and following: Olivier Gelbsman to the author, September 9, 2011.

  185“going the Marilyn Monroe”: Warhol, Warhol Diaries, p. 769.

  186“designing very expensive products”: Von Furstenberg, Diane, p. 184.

  186“is something so central”: Fran Lebowitz to the author.

  187“There’d been a fuckup”: anonymous to the author, July 11, 2011.

  187“she suffered”: Olivier Gelbsman to the author, September 9, 2011.

  187“Elkann was very controlling”: Barry Diller to the author, July 15, 2013.

  188“a boring doormat,” Von Furstenberg, Diane, p. 185.

  188“she always became”: AVF to the author, June 17, 2013.

  189“I was there because of”: James Fox in an email to the author, June 19, 2013.

  189“hummingbirds on nectar,” Frederick Seidel, “Nectar,” Poems, 1959–2009 (ebook). p. 54.

  189“I remember asking her”: Frederick Seidel to the author, June 18, 2013.

  189“what she did”: Edmund White, Inside a Pearl: My Years in Paris (London: Bloomsbury, 2014) p. 20.

  190“felt a little pang”: Von Furstenberg, Diane, p. 192.

  191“I didn’t want to get back”: Ibid.

  191“We were a family”: Ibid., p. 193.

  192“Fundamentally, what I” and following: John Elkann to the author, July 29, 2013.

  192“She had no business”: AVF to the author, June 17, 2013.

  192“That’s her key”: Linda Bird Francke to the author, September 17, 2014.

  192“It was annoying”: AVF to the author, June 17, 2013.

  193“The award was”: Von Furstenberg, Diane, p. 190

  193“was so much more” and following: Alain Elkann to the author, February 11, 2013.

  194“he was not happy”: DVF to the author, July 31, 2014.

  194“When a woman”: Alain Elkann to the author, February 11, 2013.

  194“très proche”: Francois Catroux to the author, September 8, 2011.

  194“with none of the”: Alicia Drake, The Beautiful Fall: Fashion, Genius, and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris (New York: Little Brown, 2006), p. 97.

  195“a refusal to accept”: Joan Juliet Buck, “Blythe Spirit,” W, February 2012.

  195“She was this mad”: Drake, Beautiful Fall, p. 101.

  196“Loulou fell in love”: Catroux to the author.

  196“She could have had”: Alain Elkann to the author, February 11, 2013.

  196“would be twenty-five now,” DVF to the author, August 1, 2014.

  196“there were others,” Von Furstenberg, Diane, p. 196.

  196“Alain and I have become”: DVF diary entry, April 1989.

  196“terrible morning”: Ibid., May 30, 1989.

  196“So goes Alain with the tooth,” DVF to the author, August 1, 2014.

  Can We Shop?

  197“junk” and following: Georgia Dullea, “On the Way Home With: Diane von Furstenberg; Always Room for Old Beaus,” New York Times, December 23, 1993.

  198“Donna designed”: Patti Cohen to the author, December 1, 2011.

  199“the heroic female”: Amy M. Spindler, “For Karan and Lauren, Tent-Free Triumphs” (Reviews/Fashion) New York Times, April 4, 1996.

  199“selling imagery”: Michael Gross, Genuine Authentic: The Real Life of Ralph Lauren (New York: HarperPerennial, 2004), p. 205.

  201“established a product”: Stephen Koepp, “Selling a Dream of Elegance and the Good Life,” Time, September 1, 1986.

  202“who has this great, great”: anonymous to the author, July 2011.

  202“a licensing business” and following, Interview, July 1989.

  203“Mort Zuckerman is”: DVF to the author, August 1, 2014.

  203“I would have preferred”: Diane von Furstenberg, Diane: A Signature Life (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009), p. 204.

  204“charming”: Ibid., p. 205.

  204“I had no business”: Ibid., p. 209.

  204“My father was going”: Irving Rousso, in Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags, directed by Marc Levin (Home Box Office, Blowback Productions, 2009).

  205“This third child” and following: Kathy Landau to the author, August 7, 2013.

  206“I ate a lot of . . .”: Georgia Dullea, “On the Way Home With: Diane von Furstenberg; Always Room for Old Beaus” New York Times, December 23, 1993.

  206“I was marginally happier”: Von Furstenberg, Diane, p. 210.

  206“In that case”: Kathy Landau to the author, August 7, 2013.

  206“It was nothing” and following: Kathy Van Ness to the author, August 27, 2013.

  207“I feel like a fool,” Dianne M. Pogoda, “Von Furstenberg’s Window Dressing,” WWD, March 31, 1992.

  208“God Bless QVC”: Interview, Joan Rivers, Time Out Chicago, July 27, 2009.

  209“Barry, you’ve got to”: Ken Auletta, “Barry Diller’s Search for the Future,” The New Yorker, February 22, 1993.

  210“It was the first time”: Barry Diller to the author, July 15, 2013.

  210“Why are we bothering” and following: Marvin Traub wi
th Lisa Marsh, Like No Other Career (New York: Assouline, 2008), p. 50.

  211“Please, let’s not” and following: Katherine Betts, “Show and Sell,” Vogue, February 1993, pp. 82–86.

  213“was my transition”: Diller to the author. July 15, 2013

  213“Diners passing Diller”: Ken Auletta, “Barry Diller’s Search for the Future,” New Yorker, February 22, 1993.

  213“Could you please”: Von Furstenberg, Diane, p. 217.

  214“I’m having fun”: Frederick Seidel to the author, June 18, 2013.

  214“sitting in the greenroom”: Georgia Dullea, “On the Way Home with Diane von Furstenberg: Always Room for Old Beaus,” The New York Times, December 23, 1993.

  214“getting back together”: Barry Diller to the author. July 15, 2013.

  214“a power couple”: Vanity Fair’s 1993 Hall of Fame, Vanity Fair, December 1993.

  215“Diller is almost a husband”: James Barron (with Geraldine Fabrikant and Linda Lee), “Public Lives,” New York Times, January 30, 2001.

  215“I always fight that: DVF to the author, August 1, 2014.

  215“hears my name”: Frank DiGiacomo, “Irresistible and Slightly Lethal,” The New York Observer, October 13, 1997.

  216“was around”: Kathy Landau to the author, August 7, 2013.

  216“Welcome to my bathroom”: Dan Shaw, “The Night; Not Home Alone,” New York Times, September 5, 1993.

  219“It’s cancer” and following: TVF to the author, June 15, 2013.

  220“I have these moments”: Bianca Kermorvant to the author, September, 2011.

  220“As I walked”: Von Furstenberg, Diane, p. 222.

  221“My mom was never”: TVF to the author, June 15, 2013.

  221“Powerful,” Suzy Menkes, “Lacroix Explores Limits of Ready-to-Wear,” International Herald Tribune, March 7, 1994.

  221“Perhaps the most celebrated”: Michael Specter, “The Fantasist: How John Galliano Reimagined Fashion” New Yorker, September 22, 2003.

  222“the most uncomfortable”: Von Furstenberg, Diane, p. 223.

  222“Diane got the dress”: André Leon Talley to the author, December 4, 2013.

  222“He intensely”: TVF to the author, June 15, 2013.

  222“soul mate,” Bernard Weinraub, “What’s Driving Diller to Play for Paramount,” New York Times, September 22, 1993.

  The Comeback

  225“to honor,” Diane, p. 237

  225“reflects my desire”: “Diane von Furstenberg Names Three VPs, Board of Advisors,” WWD, August 22, 1995.

  226“seemed like”: AVF to the author, June 14, 2013.

  226“Everyone told her”: Kathy Landau to the author, August 7, 2013.

  227“had saved my life” and following: DVF to the author, October 2, 2014.

  227“I’d spy on her” and following, DVF to the author, October 2, 2014

  228“resilience is bred”: Ruth La Ferla, “The Designer Tries on Another Image,” New York Times, November 1, 1998.

  228“Most people would”: Sue Feinberg to the author, October 2, 2014.

  228“I’m not dead yet,” Diane von Furstenberg, Diane: A Signature Life (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009), p. 22.

  229“I was going down”: Rose Marie Bravo to the author, November 1, 2010.

  230“You have to know”: Charles Scribner III, quoted in “The Glamour Girls Guide to Life” by Monique Yazigi, New York Times, April 5, 1998.

  230“I found some”: DVF to the author, August 1, 2014.

  230“A certain Mr. Lam” and following: Diane von Furstenberg with Linda Bird Francke, The Woman I Wanted to Be (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2014), pp. 184–85.

  231“She got the idea”: Kathy Landau to the author, August 7, 2013.

  231“Diane was a little nervous”: Alexandra von Furstenberg to the author, June 14, 2013.

  231“He stared at me”: WWD, August 22, 1997.

  231“wanted to roll out” and following: Kathy Landau to the author. August 7, 2013.

  232“the winding cloth” and following: Herbert Muschamp, “Liberty, Equality, Sorority,” New York Times, April 3, 1998.

  232“It’s great to be back”, Diane, p. 20.

  233“were probably”: Barry Diller to the author, July 15, 2013.

  233“They feel small”: Julie L. Belcove, “Diane’s Wild Ride,” WWD, September 17, 1998.

  233“No one could compete” and following: DVF to the author, July 31–August 1, 2014.

  234“We were on the road”: Alexandra von Furstenberg to the author, June 14, 2013.

  234“The wrap dress” and following: Stefani Greenfield to the author, January 21, 2014.

  235“was boringly repetitious”: Anne-Marie Schiro, “The Rewards of Keeping Faith,” Review/Fashion, New York Times, November 5, 1997.

  235“This should be”: Suzy Menkes, “A Wave of Femininity Sweeps In,” International Herald Tribune, November 5, 1997.

  236“Everyone was primed”: “New York Get Moving,” WWD, November 4, 1997.

  236“You can’t go from”: Landau to the author, August 7, 2013

  236“make a major marriage”: Eric Wilson, “Von Furstenberg Seeking a Buyer for Dress Line,” WWD, October 20, 1998.

  237“deeply troubled” and following: Constance C. R. White and Jennifer Steinhauer, “Fashion Relearns Its Darwin: Be Adaptable or Be Extinct,” New York Times, August 6, 1996.

  238“Tell everyone” and following: Julie L. Belcove, “Diane’s Wild Ride,” WWD, September 17, 1998.

  238“When your identity”: Kathy Landau to the author, August 7, 2013.

  238“I mean you swell”: Julie L. Belcove, “Diane’s Wild Ride,” WWD, September 17, 1998.

  239“I didn’t have”: DVF to the author, March 18, 2012.

  239“consummate image maker” and following: Ruth La Ferla, “The Designer Tries On Another Image,” New York Times, November 1, 1998.

  240“Diane is wonderfully gifted”: “Letter from the Editor,” Anna Wintour, Vogue, November 1998.

  241“Either Anna Wintour”: anonymous to the author.

  241“bouts of superficiality”: Michele Orecklin, review of Diane: A Signature Life, etc. New York Times, November 22, 1998.

  241“bathetic” and following: Suzy Menkes, “The Charmed Lives and Free Spirit of Diane von Furstenberg: It’s a Wrap: The Image of an Era,” International Herald Tribune, December 1, 1998.

  242“Diane was so sensual” and following: Catherine Malandrino to the author, February 17, 2011.

  243“looked very schizophrenic”: Eric Wilson, “Falk’s DVF: Not Just a Wrap Star,” WWD, March 24, 1998.

  243“for the wired woman”: Suzy Menkes, “American Designers Shoot for the Year 2000: A Comfort in Modernity,” International Herald Tribune, February 16, 1999.

  243“It’s an enormous,”: Eric Wilson, “Fashion Shows: Industry Lifeblood or Dance of Death?,” WWD, September 10, 2001.

  244“wanted to pull” and following: Barry Diller to the author, July 15, 2013.

  244“She had savings”: AVF to the author, June 17, 2013.

  244“Give me six months”: Von Furstenberg with Francke, Woman I Wanted to Be, p. 196.

  244“We tried to talk” and following: Barry Diller to the author, July 15, 2013.

  245“a hit” and following: “Anything Goes,” WWD, September 14, 1999.

  245“sexy variations”: Cathy Horyn, “Boatloads of Stars, But Ideas Are Elsewhere,” New York Times, September 14, 1999.

  245“dramatic,” Eric Wilson, “Old Names with New Games,”WWD, November 22, 1999.

  246“I knew I had”: DVF to the author, October 2, 2014.

  246“She made it easy”: Kathy Landau to the author, August 7, 2013.

  246“a tendency to hide”: Stephanie Rosenbloom, “Tightening Belts? She’s the Expert,” New York Times, July 18, 2009.

  247“You blew that deal” and following: anonymous to the author.

  248“caught the spirit”: Suzy Menkes, “New York Fashion: A Fresh Lo
ok at Female Empowerment,” International Herald Tribune, September 19, 2000.

  248“Ms. von Furstenberg is not”: Cathy Horyn, “Choosing a Destiny: Here-to-Stay or Here-to-Play,” New York Times, September 19, 2000.

  249“was still in love”: Martin Muller to the author, September 27, 2013.

  249“had rested deeply” and following: TVF in an email to the author, November 25, 2013.

  250“They fought a lot”: Philippe Halfin to the author, August 30, 2001.

  250“sooner or later”: Bridget Foley, “The Wedding Planners,” WWD, February 2, 2001.

  250“but not really a lot” and following: Barry Diller to the author, July 15, 2013.

  251“I called him and said”: Kamala Kirk, O, November 12, 2014.

  251“Am I betraying”: Bridget Foley, “The Wedding Planners,” WWD, February 2, 2001.

  251“I told her”: André Leon Talley to the author, December 4, 2013.

  251“Make sure you”: Bridget Foley, “The Wedding Planners,” WWD, February 2, 2001.

  251Maybe one of us”: Ibid.

  251“the three Aquarians”: Ibid.

  252“Diane gave one”: Ginia Bellafante, “Front Row: Just Plain Egon,” New York Times, July 10, 2001.

  252“My pattern”: DVF to the author, August 1, 2014.

  252“a merger” and following: New York Times, February 3, 2001.

  253“a bit too Cole Porter”: Bridget Foley, “The Wedding Planners,” WWD, February 2, 2001.

  253“I’m so happy”: TVF to the author, June 15, 2013.

  253“madly in love”: anonymous to the author.

  253“I don’t think it would”: Francois Catroux to the author, September 8, 2011.

  253“It boggles the mind”: André Leon Talley to the author, December 4, 2013.

  254“always inventing herself”: Kathy Landau to the author, August 7, 2013.

  254“wouldn’t change a thing”: Barry Diller to the author, July 15, 2013.

  254“insane”: Leonard McCants, “Spring Is Turning Up Dresses,” WWD, October 31, 2000.

  Epilogue

  258“What I like about women”: Deborah Kan, “Diane von Furstenberg on China,” Digital Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2012.

  259“I don’t think about legacy”: Barry Diller to the author, July 15, 2013.

  259“I want to be remembered”: DVF to Martha Stewart, Martha Stewart videos.

  260“clarity,” and following. DVF to the author, August 31, 2013.