Her iconic wrap dress changed the fashion industry and her carefree demeanor has captured the hearts of many; Diane von Furstenberg is not only a fashion icon, but a legend in and of herself. This week, the now 76-year-old sat down with Julia Dreyfus on her Wiser Than Me podcast to share her thoughts on everything from must-have fashion staples to her positive outlook on living and aging.
In the very beginning of the women’s sit down, Dreyfus asked the Belgian designer if it was okay to share her real age, to which she immediately responded, “of course, I’m 76 years old.” Right off the bat, von Furstenberg made it known that when it comes to her age, she has nothing to hide. “I’m 76, but I should be 300 because I’ve had a very full life,” she says. “I do feel my age because I feel like I have lived every single day of my life. I am who I am.”
In our society, it’s so easy to talk about aging in a negative light, but von Furstenberg’s perspective on this natural progression is both refreshing and real: “I love being alive, and [aging] is how long I’ve been alive, so yes I love it,” she explains, “I would change the word ‘aging’ and say ‘living,’ because age is life. Aging is life, it’s not a decay.”
We could all learn a lot from von Furstenberg’s outlook on life, and her heartfelt interview with Dreyfus can be summed up in two sentiments: “Every woman should have a black turtle neck,” and “as long as you’re true to yourself, you’re free.”
