CUT THE RIBBON, DIANE VON FURSTENBERG

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Editorial Staff

Diane Von Furstemberg was born in Belgium from a Romanian father and a Greek mother who was an Holocaust survivor. Just 18 months before Diane was born, Liliane Nahmias was imprisoned in Auschwitz. “Fear is not an option” that’s what her mother used to say and that’s what the little Diane put in practice, for all her life. Very first example of working girl, wife to a Prince from which she wanted to  be economically independent, Von Furstemberg has not only shown to the world that healthy principles girls could survive everything –  Studio 54, financial crisis, divorces and the supremacy of men in fashion world – but they could also run enormous businesses and share wealth with others. Her ” The Diller Foundation” provides philanthropic support to the community building, education, arts, health and environment. If you now can walk thorough the “High Line”, that beautiful New York garden constructed on an abandoned railroad, it’s also because of the 20 million dollars donation that The Driller made (the largest single private contribution to a public park in New York City’s history). But Diane also sits on the board of Vital Voices, a women’s leadership organization that empowers emerging women leaders and social entrepreneurs around the world (she is honorary director of the Housatonic Valley Association). In 2010 she created The DVF Awards to support four women who displayed leadership, strength, and courage in their commitment to women’s causes. And for those who are skeptic about this super Cut The Ribbon(s), Dolly Parton’s 1981 song “Working Girl” is dedicated to…guess who?