Chinese market embraces fashion guru as inspiration to women

When Diane Von Furstenberg was 22 years old and just starting out in the fashion business, she dreamed that one day she would sell a dress to every woman in China. As a child, she had read about the country in Tin Tin's Blue Lotus adventure book. She imagined it to be luxurious and enigmatic. In 1990 she became one of the first American fashion designers to visit, at a time when bicycles filled dirt roads.

Today, with five stores doing brisk business (with plans for four more this year) and more than 300,000 followers on China's Sino Weibo, she is well on her way to becoming a household name there, a realization of her 2010 resolution to be widely known in a country that has become more than a business destination.

"For me, it's not just 'Go there and sell,'" she says. "I have really good friends there, artists and writers and journalists. I've absorbed myself into the culture and have given it a lot of my time. I have real connections there."

Over the past four years, she has gone once, twice, sometimes three times a year, she says. In 2011, she hosted the Red Ball, a glamorous black-tie party at a converted studio factory outside Shanghai owned by the artist Zhang Huan. The fete was in celebration of the opening of "Diane Von Furstenberg: Journey of a Dress", an exhibition spotlighting her career as both icon and fashion designer. The show featured newly commissioned works by the Chinese artists Li Songsong, Zhang Huan, Hai Bo and Yi Zhou.

Then, in late 2011, Citic Press of China released Von Furstenberg's autobiography A Signature Life, translated into Chinese by TV personality and author Huang Hung, who has been referred to as the "Oprah of China".

"I am inspired by the whole country," Von Furstenberg says. "Every time I go, it has changed. What I love about the country is the energy. It feels very much like New York City used to. I identify very much with Chinese people. And if you are into textiles and silk well, people say the Chinese steal everything, but originally we stole it from them, didn't we? It's the crib of civilization."

She chose Zhang's factory as the location of her party because of its blend of gritty and modern aesthetics, she says.

"Instead of doing it in a ballroom or a hotel, I wanted to do it in the factory, because that represents China - and it represents me too," she says.

Von Furstenberg took criticism last year for comparing Jewish and Chinese cultures, but she stands by her comments, she says.

"The Jewish and the Chinese have both been through great difficulties, and are successful in the business world," she says. "Ultimately, it is not easy to rule a billion and a half people, who are very individualistic. The Chinese are not like the Japanese in that they don't follow the rules. When you're on a plane and they tell you to turn off your phones in China, everyone turns their phones on."

Her views on China were shaped very early on, she says.

"When I was little, for my generation we were told that if you didn't eat your food, you should think of the starving Chinese," she says. "Then my children's generation said, 'The Chinese people make everything.' And now my grandparents' generation says, 'The Chinese people buy everything.'

"Listen, at the end of the Monopoly game, China wins - so you better be friends with them," she says with a laugh.

Her interest in China stems from an innate curiosity, Huang Hung says. The two worked together on the translation of Von Furstenberg's autobiography, and have since become close friends.

"When we started to talk, I was impressed by her curiosity," Huang says. "She was so curious about China, about Chinese women, about us. Most of the time people ask questions about their business or things relevant to their business, but Diane was very different. Her interest in China was broader; it was a genuine intellectual interest in the place, its people and its culture."

She recalls their first meeting, during which several Chinese colleagues pronounced Diane's name wrong (the correct pronunciation is "Dee-an"). Her husband, the media mogul Barry Diller, whispered to her, asking whether she would like to correct them.

"Diane simply said, 'It's OK.' This made a great impression on me," Huang says. "It showed that she is very kind and sensitive to other people's feelings. It spoke volumes about who she is."

Over the course of her career, Von Furstenberg has made women's issues a priority; her DVF Awards disperse money each year to various women's causes. In China, she has gravitated toward strong women, she says.

"I am very impressed with Chinese women," she says. "There are a lot of Chinese women who are businesswomen. All women are strong, but Chinese women are stronger. That's why when Huang Hung said we should translate my book into Chinese, I said, 'Why? Chinese women are so secure and powerful.' But over time I realized that even though they seem like they can conquer the world, they are also vulnerable."

Huang recalls Von Furstenberg's advice to a successful young designer in China. "She was pining for a boyfriend, and Diane told her 'Never tell people you cannot find a man.' She stopped, and transformed herself from dressing for men for dressing for herself."

For Chinese women, Von Furstenberg's story is inspiring, Huang says.

"Her story is an inspiration to so many young Chinese women," she says. "They are all very curious about how she succeeded. Diane is beautiful and she has pushed herself beyond her beauty to achieve a great deal more. She has achieved a balance in her life. I personally think Chinese women are not so keen to take successful business women as role models. They have a suspicion that such women have sacrificed too much of their family life for a career. Of course, having both is the true dream. That's why Diane is so admired by Chinese women. She has both a beautiful family and an amazing career."

Von Furstenberg plans on remaining deeply involved in China, she says.

"I'm very much a friend of China," she says. "I feel that now I am not only known but loved there, and it's because I did it all with love. I thought Chinese women wouldn't be interested, but they are - and they're just waiting to be inspired."

kdawson@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily 06/15/2012 page21)