#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

• 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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Follow Diane von Furstenberg here: https://www.instagram.com/therealdvf/

Purchase ‘Own It: The Secret to Life’ by Diane von Furstenberg here: https://www.amazon.sg/Own-Secret-Diane-von-Furstenberg/dp/B0BGN66CK4

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