Having married and had children young, Von Furstenberg found her career taking off just as her marriage was falling apart. In 1976, the combined retail sales from her clothes, licenses, fragrance and cosmetic lines was US$117 million, she had made the cover of Newsweek and the front page of the Wall Street Journal. She was 29. It is perhaps a consequence of having achieved so much so young, and maybe due also to the example set by a mother who "rarely flattered me and never cautioned me," that she sees her role as being to inspire young women rather than protect them.
One of my favorite stories about Von Furstenberg is how she bought herself Cloudwalk, a farm in Connecticut, for her 27th birthday. If you do that to mark turning 27, how do you mark your 60th birthday, which she celebrated a month ago? It turns out she was rather rattled by the prospect. "Catherine Deneuve told me once she had thought she was prepared for turning 60, then when it happened it was really horrible. I never forgot that. So it was a big issue for me right up to the day itself. And then I was absolutely fine." And she smiles, and pulls her wrap dress a little tighter.
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