A Mayfair Affair

Diane von Furstenberg has brought a little bit of the Meatpacking to Mayfair says Fashion Director, Tracey Lea Sayer

  Diane von Furstenberg takes her bow; Spring/summer 08 catwalk;
Diane at the store opening; backstage

When you meet Diane von Furstenberg it is almost as though you are in the presence of an actress rather than a fashion designer. Her beauty and style icons are Eva Gardner and Marlene Dietrich, and when you look at her you can see why, she looks a little like both. Dressed in a fushia dress, she has an air of decadence and a beauty that is still very much apparent, even though she is now a proud grandmother.

  Diane with her grandaughter Antonia; the Rainbow Rooms, New York, 1972 

I meet her at her new Bruton Street store. It is her third stand alone in the UK to date, and one of seven shops opening this year which will total twenty two by January. 'We just had to open a shop in Mayfair...it is the centre of the world'. It stands in good company along the same strip as Stella McCartney and Matthew Williamson. Designed by architects WORKac, it brings a little of New York's meatpacking district to Mayfair.

A huge glass hexagonal dome ceiling dominates at the far-end of the store, architects took inspiration from the idea of a glittering jewel box and rugs are scattered on the floor in her signature zebra print. The store is separated into three areas. The first two dedicated to seasonal collections and the third is the luxury space, filled with DVF handbags, shoes and accessories. She has designed a beautiful collection of fine jewellery with H.Stern that is inspired by her love of nature and also collaborated with Christian Louboutin on the shoes.

  Diane's Autumn/winter 07 catwalk

This is a business woman through and through. From the minute the twenty-two year old Diane took a suitcase full of little wrap dresses around department stores in the United States twenty five years ago, she has had a tireless appetite for work and a keen eye for a gap in the market. Her simple wrap dress became a phenomenon in the states with celebrities and housewives alike flocking to buy them in every print. With ‘The Wrap' she became the all-American dream.

'It wasn't as though I just wanted to be in fashion. I knew the woman I wanted to become. I just had to find a way to get there.'  

‘Well the first time I was so young, twenty two. I had no idea about anything. The whole thing took me by surprise. It was an extraordinary adventure. It wasn't as though I just wanted to be in fashion. I knew the woman I wanted to become. I just had to find a way to get there.'

She lived on the road, travelling up and down America making personal appearances in department stores. Women queued to be tied into her dresses, amazed at how ‘The Wrap' dress made them feel. ‘I found that it was making other women feel great about themselves that made me become that woman I am. It was an extraordinary discovery and had a great dialogue between myself and my customers'.

Her other big success was the launch of her perfume and beauty products. Along with her perfume, Tatiana (named after her daughter) she created her own cosmetics line.

After selling her company off in 1983, Diane came back to the forefront of fashion in 1996. Surprised by a renewed interest in ‘The Wrap' (her friends daughters started to buy Vintage dresses and soon the celebs followed. Suddenly everybody was DVF crazy again. She re-launched her own label.

  DVF ad campaign 

In 1998 she published her biography, Diane, A Signature Life. ‘So much has happened between then and now, I lost my mother and now have three grandchildren. When I wrote the book I wanted to draw a line between the past and the future. I was starting again, with this new company, and I didn't know if it was going to work or not. Thankfully it worked, and here I am '

Her re-incarnation into the fashion industry has also brought back her love of beauty. A small range of beauty products will be sold through her stores.

Ever the business woman, Diane also embraces the internet. ‘Well it is just like one big global store. We sell really well through our own site and also through all the big department stores.

And finally... her favourite handbag? ‘Well it has to be the DVF ‘Wrap Bag' of course.'

Diane von Furstenberg has just been awarded CEW Lifetime Achiever Award 2007 for her contribution to the beauty industry through out her career. Sponsored by handbag.com

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