Prints and patterns abounded, too. “The snake that she’s wearing is an original that we call the six sisters—it’s my very first wrap dress ever,” von Furstenberg told Vogue as she pointed out a design worn by an attendee nearby. Even the afternoon’s custom table runners, made from archival fabric by FIT Menswear students, nodded to the designer’s signature ikat print, first introduced in 1983.
To present von Furstenberg with the award was Vanessa Friedman, chief fashion critic at the New York Times, who has known the designer for some twenty years. Friedman began her remarks by reminding the audience of von Furstenberg’s unlikely beginning, born in Brussels to a Holocaust survivor. “There are a lot of words I could use to describe today’s honoree. We call her a designer, entrepreneur, feminist, activist, philanthropist, mother, grandmother, daughter, friend, and mentor. But the term I actually prefer is ‘force of nature,’ which I know is three words. But that’s the point: it is impossible to reduce her to just one word,” said Friedman.
As von Furstenberg took the stage, the room gave her a warranted standing ovation. The mogul opened with stories from her childhood while screens behind her showed corresponding images. “My mother taught me two things: fear is not an option, and no matter what, never be a victim,” von Furstenberg said about her mother’s decision to send her to boarding school in Switzerland. A photo of the young tastemaker in a jet-set-inspired outfit boarding the plane to school appeared. “I felt so glamorous,” she said, as the audience chuckled.
During a half-hour speech, von Furstenberg reflected on major career milestones, like her first meeting with Diana Vreeland in 1970 and later being featured on the March 1976 cover of Newsweek in her innovative wrap dress. She also recalled being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2005 CFDA Fashion Awards.
