#53: Diane von Furstenberg: How She Became the Woman She Wanted to Be

“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