Diane von Furstenberg exhibition opens in Los Angeles to celebrate women

After an opening in Belgium, at the Fashion and Lace Museum in Brussels, Diane von Furstenberg‘s birthplace, and a stopover in New York last June at the DVF flagship, the ‘Diane von Furstenberg: Woman Before Fashion’ exhibition opened in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening at the Skirball Cultural Center, a Hollywood-based museum that explores diverse facets of Jewish and American life.

“When my hometown, the city of Brussels, came to me and said they wanted to present an exhibition of my work at the Brussels Fashion and Lace Museum curated by Nicolas Lor, I was honored,” said von Furstenberg. “It was very emotional to have this just down the street from where I went to school as a young girl. Now, I am touched that the Skirball Cultural Center is bringing the show to another city very close to my heart, Los Angeles”. 

The star of the party, von Furstenberg was surrounded by a host of female celebrities, all of whom came to congratulate her, including Cindy Crawford, Jessica Alba, Rachel Zoe and Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos‘ wife, all dressed in Diane von Furstenberg’s legendary wrap dress. The designer, who has never lived in Los Angeles, knows the city well, thanks to her second husband, billionaire Barry Diller, who owns a house here. Her two children also live in LA. She also long organized her Oscar Brunch and in 2015 opened a shop on Melrose Avenue. It was also in Los Angeles, ten years ago, that her last major exhibition ‘Journey of a Dress’ took place, with 200 models wearing her iconic garments. 

Not meant as a retrospective of von Furstenberg’s work, this new exhibition includes a selection of items drawn from the DVF archives along with ephemera, fabric swatches, media pieces, and information on her philanthropic work. For this third exhibition, 29 of the 75 fashion pieces are presented exclusively at Skirball Cultural Center. 

Organized into four sections, the exhibition first explores the origins of her iconic wrap dress and its evolution throughout her career. A comparison with the great iconic dress archetypes by Sonia Rykiel, Donna Karan, Gabrielle Chanel, Madeleine Vionnet and French designer Estelle Manas is also proposed.

“Well, the wrap dress was my American dream,” explains von Furstenberg. “I became the woman I wanted to be because of that little dress and that gave me confidence that was contagious. I became a sort of conduit for the independence and freedom that American women wanted at that time, and so the dress was a huge success. My inspiration has always been women. For the wrap dress, technically it started as a wrap top and skirt that I saw worn together and had the idea for the dress, but women were always at the core.”

Section two examines von Furstenberg’s bold designs and sources of inspiration through three lenses: nature, art, and freedom. Nature is an important motif in her work and playful animal prints and floral patterns have been featured in her designs throughout her career. Art holds a similar prominence for her, with many prints inspired by or made in collaboration with artists such as Jackson Pollock, Konstantin Kakanias, and Andy Warhol. 

Also explored in this section is von Furstenberg’s deep personal connection to the theme of freedom. Having given birth to von Furstenberg just 18 months after she was liberated from a Nazi concentration camp, her mother Lily Nahmias referred to her as her “torch of freedom.” Exclusive to the Skirball Cultural Center, the exhibition features exclusive images, letters and audios on Diane’s mother.

Another cherished symbol of freedom is the dress worn by von Furstenberg at the Met Gala 2019 in New York City. A dress designed to resemble the statue’s robes, printed with a portrait of von Furstenberg taken by the photographer Ara Gallant for the cover of Interview Magazine, March 1977.

Section three entitled ‘The American Dream’, follows a twenty-six-year-old von Furstenberg in 1972 with the launch of her brand and shows the remarkable success she achieved. 

“A pivotal factor in her commercial success lies in her vision for women: resilient, confident, and fiercely feminine,” said Nicolas Lor, curator of the exhibition. “Often serving as her own muse, she featured herself prominently in ad campaigns and marketing. In the early stages of her career, she traversed the United States to meet and help women try on her designs. This approach enabled her to develop a lasting connection with the public, listening to their aspirations and concerns and translating them into clothing that continues to resonate with women more than half a century later.”

This part of the exhibition looks back at von Furstenberg’s immigration to New York City in 1969, and the extensive media coverage she received at the time, with numerous magazine covers including Newsweek, Town & Country and Interview. Some atypical advertising campaigns are displayed, including one for a Japanese denim brand showing von Furstenberg posing on the Empire State Building. Finally, among the memorabilia on display, a personal letter from Diana Vreeland, then editor-in-chief of Vogue, begins with these words: “I think your clothes are absolutely smashing.”

The final section, ‘WeAr(e)Able Stories’, is a play on words merging two expressions, Wearable Stories and We Are Able. It encapsulates the power von Furstenberg gives to women through her brand and her advocacy. Beginning with a dress, von Furstenberg sought to liberate and empower women. Since then, she has used her voice to advocate for gender equity and human rights on a global scale.

“Yes, I think ever since I was a little girl, I knew the kind of woman I wanted to be, and I had this sort of ‘I’ll show you’ attitude even then,” added von Furstenberg. “My mother never allowed me to be afraid, or to be a victim, so that made me strong and it made me independent. Even after my first marriage, I knew that I wanted a career and an identity of my own and that was certainly part of my success.”

The exhibition ends with a series of dresses by von Furstenberg in homage to the women she admires, including dresses worn by Paris Hilton and Michelle Obama. Finally, a unique dress named ‘Crosswords print’ was presented. A model created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the wrap dress, where each box incorporates words dear to the designer such as ‘freedom’, ‘love is life’, and ‘attitude’.

Originally from Belgium and born into a wealthy family, von Furstenberg began her career in New York, where she settled with her first husband, Prince Egon von Furstenberg, in 1969. Noticed for her creations by Diana Vreeland, she literally exploded in the seventies when she developed her first wrap dress model. After worldwide success, a ‘Lost Period’ in which the designer’s empire collapsed, and a rebirth in New York’s Meatpacking District, von Furstenberg’s talent, personality and tumultuous life are fascinating.

Inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2019, she received the Chevalier de la Légion D’Honneur from France in 2020, the Commandeur de l’Ordre de la Couronne from her native Belgium in 2021, and the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Woman of Leadership Award in 2022. In 2023, she was the subject of ‘Woman Before Fashion’, a book published by Rizzoli which followed her exhibition at Brussel’s Fashion and Lace Museum. In 2024, she was also the subject of the documentary ‘Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge’, which premiered as the opening selection at TriBeCa festival.

Diane currently serves on the boards of Vital Voices and the CFDA.