A simple exercise demonstrates the power of Diane von Furstenberg (Brussels, Belgium, 77 years old). You just have to stand in front of one, any one, of the 60 dresses in the exhibition that starts this October 17 in the Skirball Museum in Los Angeles, California, and ask yourself: Would I find this in a store today? Would I wear it, without looking like a costume, an antique vintagea rag taken from grandma’s closet? The answer is, over and over again, yes. When, beyond the dress – all similar and all different – one looks at the sign with the date, one finds from all periods during the last 50 years, as many as the famous wrap dress invented in 1973 by the Belgian nationalized American. Such has been the acceptance of this garment that now this Los Angeles cultural center specialized in Jewish culture has decided to bring his life and work in an exhibition.
The exhibition was originally created to be exhibited in Brussels, where Diane Simone Michele Halfin was born on the last day of 1946, to a Romanian father and a Greek-Jewish mother, who became pregnant with her less than a year after leaving Auschwitz. It was for the Fashion&Lace museum in the Belgian capital, for which its organizer, the French fashion expert Nicolas Lor, conceived it, and it could be seen there between April of last year and January of this year. Then, when it was over, those responsible for Skirball decided to bring it to Los Angeles. “They were quite short times, normally these exhibitions are planned years in advance,” acknowledges Jered Gold, vice president of the Los Angeles museum. But the life and work of the creator fascinated them, and they observed that she fit them perfectly: “As a Jewish immigrant, with a more than remarkable career and legacy, these are the types of stories that resonate in Skirball.”
The exhibition is not only a review of Von Furstenberg’s career, marked by that enveloping dress that was released five decades ago and that, with its logical evolutions, is practically the same than the one who presented to the magazine Women’s Wear Daily in the mid-seventies. It is also a look at women’s clothing in this half century, marked by the creator’s inspirations, and also by her way of seeing fashion; Nature is the main source from which it draws, as demonstrated by its plant-inspired animal prints. Divided into four parts, Diane von Furstenberg: Woman before fashion (woman before fashion) shows how the creator is inspired by big names such as Coco Chanel or Repetto and their dancer costumes for her creations. But it all starts from a moment when, in 1972, she sees Julia Nixon, daughter of President Nixon, on television wearing a set of one of her tops and her geometric-print skirts on a television show. Then she saw the obvious: that a dress with that shape would be more comfortable and practical.
The economic part has a lot to do with Von Furstenberg’s artistic legacy. First, because the creator saw that hers was an easy model to produce and reproduce, almost infinitely, without having to use a lot of fabric or complex patterns. Besides, As time has shown, it was then and is now a modern piece suitable for a long day.something that many women appreciated since the seventies for empowering them, for being formal but with an attractive cut, thanks to its raised shoulders, its deep neckline and the variability of its lengths. Also because it is valid for many silhouettes, sizes and heights of women with completely different complexions. And, furthermore, because his partner, Richard Conrad, agreed to give life to the wrap dress seeing an opportunity to reduce production costs, by creating a single piece and not two. The success was clear: in 1976 one million dresses had been sold. Reports, magazine covers, books and jewelry and cosmetics lines arrived, as well as documentaries. And Von Furstenberg would never leave the global fashion podium, from which he has dressed Kate Middleton, Michelle Obama, Queen Matilda (her three models are on display at Skirball), Carrie Bradshaw in Sex in New YorkCindy Crawford, Jerry Hall, Karlie Kloss and millions of other women.
The creator’s personal life is also reviewed in the museum, thanks also to her humble origins and her private and professional evolution. His mother, born in Thessaloniki, was a member of the resistance and was consumed after her time in the concentration camps; They even told her that she would be unable to conceive. For Von Furstenberg, his mother was always a guide, a role model. In her youth she studied in Madrid, Geneva and Paris, and married Prince Egon von Furstenberg, who gave her two children (Alexander and Tatiana), a surname she would never remove, despite her subsequent divorce in 1983, and a title. that she never wanted to use, that of Her Serene Highness Diana, Princess of Furstenberg. She has been married for 23 years Barry Diller, founder of Fox and billionaire businessman of American communication, and although they spend time on the West Coast, they are based in New York. From there he presided over the CFDA, the American fashion council, for 13 years, and is very present in the social and cultural life of the city.
But before becoming an American citizen, her life began in Brussels. Frenchman Nicolas Lor, 30, explains that in October 2021, when he arrived in the Belgian capital and investigated which designers were linked to the city, he was surprised to see the name of Von Furstenberg, who lived there for 15 years. Fascinated by its designs and its history, he decided that his career needed a review. She decided to contact her office and her store in the city, which her sister-in-law manages, and, to her surprise, they answered her. Since then he worked with the creator for the exhibition. “At first we only had five elements, and she contributed almost everything else. If he had not accepted, it would have been very difficult to carry it forward, because almost everything is from his archives, which are impressive. They have color samples, reports, photographs… It’s all in her house in Connecticut,” Lor explains to EL PAÍS, telling how the Belgian has even contributed photos of nature that she takes with her cell phone when she goes for a walk. “It was incredible to work with her because she gave me total freedom to organize the exhibition, the chapters, the pieces….”
The creator has also been very present in the transfer of her exhibition and its installation in Los Angeles. Her daughter, Tatiana, lives in the city, in the bohemian-chic area of Los Feliz, and her mother comes to visit her frequently. And these days he has stopped by the Skirball to supervise the exhibition; On Saturday he attended a panel that served as the starting signal for it. It can be seen in the museum until September 1, 2025.
