A Diane von Furstenberg documentary is finally coming, and it looks just as colorful and glorious as the iconic Jewish designer.
“Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge,” directed by Trish Dalton and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, followed the feminist designer behind the wrap dress for two years. It’s an open and transparent tell-all, in which DVF talks not only about the ups and downs throughout her career in fashion, but delves into her entire history. Covering her relationship with her first husband, Prince Egon von Furstenberg (yes, in case you didn’t know, DVF used to be a literal German princess until her 1983 divorce), the documentary explores her open marriage in the ’70s era of free love, Egon’s bisexuality, and the way the AIDS crisis impacted her family. DVF had two children with Egon, Alexander and Tatiana. “I never stopped loving him,” she says, sharing that she was with him when he died in 2006.
She talks about her second marriage to IAC chair Barry Diller, whom she calls her “soulmate.” Diller says that from the get-go, there was “some absolute magnetism” between the two of them.
The documentary also delves into her Jewish family history. In the trailer, you hear her talk about her mother, Liliane Nachmias, a Jew from Thessaloniki who survived Auschwitz.
“I am a child of a survivor,” DVF tells the camera. “She always told me fear was not an option.”
Nachmias became completely emaciated during her time in Auschwitz and was told she could never have children, so she is truly a testament to Jewish resilience and survival. DVF told the Forward in 2005 that she grew up secular, despite both of her parents being Jewish (her maiden name is Halfin), but reconnected with her Jewish roots after being honored by the ADL in 1981. She also wrote the foreword to the autobiography of her paternal cousin, “A Jewish Doctor in Auschwitz: The Testimony of Sima Vaisman.”
Her mother’s lesson about living without fear is one that made DVF such a cultural icon. “She was one of the first women who broke through the glass ceiling in business,” Hilary Clinton says in the trailer. Scores of other legendary admirers are featured in the film, from her affairs with David Bowie and Mick Jagger (“I was having a man’s life in a woman’s body,” DVF says of that time) to Fran Leibowitz, Oprah Winfrey and Anderson Cooper, who all speak in the documentary.
That’s also a lesson she wants to pass onto every generation of women to come after her. “I want you to be strong. I want you to be the woman you want to be,” she’s seen telling a crowd of women, sharing that “the only place to find your strength is by being true to yourself.”
“Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge” premieres on Hulu on June 25.
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