“I did not know what I wanted to do. But I knew the kind of woman I wanted to be.”
Diane von Furstenberg’s mother survived Auschwitz at 29 kilos. Doctors said she would die in childbirth, that her child would not be normal. The following December, Diane was born.
In this conversation, DVF takes us through the moments that shaped her: the principles her mother gave her that she never let go of, the little dress that became a flag of freedom, the empire she built, lost, and rebuilt, and the philosophy of life she has arrived at after 79 years.
We talk about:
How to stay whole across love, ambition, and motherhood
Why kindness is a currency that compounds
What it means to own who you are; not perform it
Aging as living, not losing
The one relationship we cannot afford to lose
This is not a conversation about fashion.
It’s a conversation about what it means to be in charge of your own life.
Chapters
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:24 Diane von Furstenberg: Born a “Torch of Freedom”
00:03:53 The Childhood That Shaped Everything
00:05:11 The Little Dress That Changed Her Life
00:06:14 Finding Her Door to Success in New York
00:08:20 Making 25,000 Dresses By 27
00:09:27 The Fall & Reinvention of DVF
00:11:03 Taking Back and Owning Her Legacy
00:12:12 Diane’s Most Important Advice to Women — Don’t Lose Yourself
00:14:02 Breaking the Fear of Aging in Women
00:14:56 Choosing 3 Words That Defines Her Year
00:16:11 Diane von Furstenberg’s Message to the World
00:17:13 Discovering The Power of Self & Kindness: Currency That Compounds
00:20:34 Embracing Her Winter Season in Life
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