Belgian-American fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg in Beijing.

The designer who gave the iconic jersey knit wrap dress in the 1970s is ready for the middle kingdom

To Chinese fashionistas, Diane von Furstenberg is not as familiar a name as Karl Lagerfeld or Marc Jacobs. Some even have trouble pronouncing her surname. In the 1970s and 1980s, however, the Belgian-American fashion designer was to the world's fashion industry what Lagerfeld is to Chanel, and Jacobs is to Louis Vuitton.

She introduced the iconic jersey knit wrap dress to women's wear in 1973. So great was its influence that it is now in the collection of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

An exhibition of her life and creations, Journey of a Dress, is now on at Pace Gallery in Beijing's 798 Art Zone.

Von Furstenberg's energetic persona belies her 60 years. She also retains her fine sense of fashion. While for the interview, she was dressed in a loud jacket and a pair of black leggings, two hours later when she showed up for the press conference, she appeared in a bright green wrap dress of her own label DVF, drawing gasps of admiration from the assembled journalists.

The exhibition, running until May 14, features 80 wrap dresses that Von Furstenberg has created since 1973. There are also paintings and photos of her and her designs, by celebrated artists including Mario Testino, Francois-Marie Banier and Andy Warhol.

"The 1970s and 1980s were very different in America. I thought Chinese people would be very interested, just like we are very interested in knowing what was happening in the 1970s and 1980s in China," Von Furstenberg says.

She says that was the time she was living the American dream.

 

Von Furstenberg began her career as a fashion designer in 1970 and soon proved her talent. The wrap dress she designed was so revolutionary that it landed the 29-year-old on the cover of Newsweek in 1975. The magazine described her as "the most remarkable female in the world of fashion since Coco Chanel".

Over the next two decades, she became a symbol of female power and freedom for a whole generation.

Her rapidly expanding fashion empire soon ran into financial difficulties and in 1984, Von Furstenberg sold her business.

She decided to strike back in 1997 - at the age of 51 - designing dresses for girls younger than her children.

But she never felt it was too late and re-appeared on the New York fashion scene with her rejuvenated wrap dresses.

"I still have a lot of energy. I saw young girls buying dresses in vintage shops, so I was encouraged to start again," she says, wearing a pair of oversized vintage sunglasses.

A wrap dress that Von Furstenberg designed is on display at Pace Gallery in Beijing's 798 Art Zone. Photos by Jiang Dong / China Daily

"What I loved about America in the 1970s and 1980s is what I love about China now. There was an American dream, and now it is time for a Chinese dream.

"People here have an idea, they make it happen, and make it happen so quickly. It is very exciting."

She first visited China in 1990, and saw only bicycles and people wearing gray and black on Beijing's streets. But now, Von Furstenberg has three DVF boutique stores in Beijing and Shanghai that are known for their brightly colored collections.

She says there is much more choice in women's wear in China now.

"There is so much optimism. If I was young, I would love to move here," she says.

She also points to China's rising presence in the fashion world.

In 2006, Von Furstenberg was elected president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, a position she holds to this day. In the years since, she has seen the rise of many talented young Chinese-American fashion designers, including Phillip Lim, Jason Wu and Alexander Wang.

Von Furstenberg says she looks forward to meeting Chinese designers on her next visit and to creating an exchange between China and the United States.

Her business in China is expanding steadily and she is in no hurry to hasten its pace.

Unlike some other big brands, she is not considering making a special dress for the vast Chinese market.

"For me, a woman is a woman. I don't think of her as Chinese or Brazilian. I offer women the best, and they choose what they want," she says.

This might explain why Von Furstenberg's creations are loved not only by celebrated Westerners such as US First Lady Michelle Obama and Hollywood stars Jessica Alba and Jennifer Lopez, but also by top-ranked Chinese actresses Zhang Ziyi, Fan Bingbing and Yan Ni.

"We are planning to open another two stores in the near future, but I follow the demand. I am not here to colonize China. We (will) grow organically," she says.