DIANE VON FURSTENBERG

Diane von Furstenberg is a Belgian-American fashion designer, best known for her eponymous label, which is often shortened to DvF, and her iconic wrap dresses. She was born Diane Simone Michelle Halfin to a Romanian father and Greek-born, Jewish mother - a Holocaust survivor - in 1946. Brought up in Brussels, Belgium, she attended Madrid University, later transferring to the University of Geneva in Switzerland. It was here that she met her first husband, Prince Egon zu Fürstenberg, the German elder son of Prince Tassilo zu Fürstenberg and his first wife, Clara Agnelli, an heiress to the Fiat fortune. They married in 1969, moved to New York, and went on to have two children - a son, Prince Alexandre von Furstenberg, and a daughter Princess Tatiana von Furstenberg - but divorced amicably three years later in 1972. Von Fursterbeg began designing clothes in 1970. She appeared on the cover of Newsweek in November 1976 having sold five million wrap dresses and was touted as an icon of female liberation. In 2001, Von Furstenberg married media mogul Barry Diller. The couple set up The Diller-Von Furstenberg Family Foundation; a private family foundation which provides philanthropic support to various non-profit organizations. In 2005, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) awarded her a lifetime achievement award, and the following year named her as their president.