Photo courtesy of the Saint Louis Fashion Fund.

Fashion icon Diane von Fürstenberg spoke alongside YouTube’s former Head of Fashion and Beauty, Derek Blasberg about her career and life lessons, the fashion industry today and its challenges, and her work to empower women, Oct. 12.

The two spoke extensively of Fürstenberg’s prolific work and her influence on the fashion world. Along with creating and popularizing the wrap dress, Fürstenberg has designed clothes for celebrities ranging from Madonna to Catherine, Princess of Wales.

They also spoke of Fürstenberg’s philanthropy and public service, including the annual grants that her company Diane von Fürstenberg (DVF) gives to women who work to transform the lives of other women. 

At the event, Mayor Tishaura Jones deemed Oct. 12 Diane von Fürstenberg day in St. Louis.

The audience was dressed in elaborate outfits to honor the visiting titan of the fashion industry, and Fürstenberg herself donned a black-and-white checkered pant suit while she gripped the packed audience with her stories. Fürstenberg’s fiery sense of humor resonated with the audience, and laughter was frequent as she walked through her life and career.

“When I was growing up, I did not know what I wanted to do, but I knew that I wanted to be the woman in charge,” she said. 

Her path to becoming a woman in charge of a major company was inspired by her mother, who she spoke about in her talk.

She said her mother’s resilience and strength as a “skeleton in a field of ashes” inspired her. Her mother, who spent 14 months in three different Nazi concentration camps, was told by a doctor that she should not have a child for at least three years after leaving the concentration camps in order to build back her health and ensure that her child would be okay. Fürstenberg’s mother had her nine months later.

“I was born, and I was not normal,” Fürstenberg said jokingly, drawing laughter from the audience. 

During the Q&A portion of the event, she answered questions, including how she would manage her business differently if she could go back in time, what advice she would give to women in business, and how she views fast fashion.

“You learn so much from your mistakes,” Fürstenberg said. “When you get your absolutely worst humiliation in business, this is what I tell my friends. I say, ‘Remember, this very moment will be your best anecdote when you make a speech or host a TED-talk.’”

Among the attendees who came from all parts of the St. Louis fashion scene was local resident Ellie Rudnick, who came to the event because she wanted to hear Fürstenberg’s advice about the fashion industry. She said that Fürstenberg’s response to a question about teaching women in business surprised her.

“I’m on the business side of the industry versus the design side,” she said. “So, when the question came up about what kind of advice she has for women [who are] now trying to be in the business side of the industry, and she was like, ‘I don’t know,’ I just thought that was interesting.”

“[It] kind of makes you think… of how business is evolving and the fashion industry is evolving; that stuck with me,” Rudnick said.

Themes of empowerment were also present throughout the conversation; Fürstenberg spoke of the resilience of her and her family.

“It was the end of the winter and the beginning of spring. I was walking in the woods by my house in Connecticut,” Fürstenberg said. “There were brown leaves, [and] just one little green stick — it almost wasn’t noticeable. And I thought to myself, ‘That’s who I am.’ I was a little stick who defied the ashes.”