Diane von Furstenberg Accused of Being 'Feminist Icon,' Kanye-Shrugs

By Julianne Escobedo Shepherd | November 12, 2014 | 8:45pm

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DVF is promoting her new book, The Woman I Wanted to Be, appearing on Colbert Tuesday night to discuss it. His first question: “You have been a princess; you have been a fashion designer. Which are the two most popular Barbies. Is there any kind of women that you wanted to be that you never were?”

“No,” she responded. [CHEER!] “I think the woman you want to be is many different women at many different times. It’s just living your dreams seriously, about dreaming who you wanna be and becoming who you want to be.”

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DVF has long been an outspoken feminist in the fashion world, whose easy-wearing, iconic designs—the wrap dress, of course, which she invented over 40 years ago—helped define an entire generation of liberated woman. On Colbert, she did her best to represent her ideologies, both philosophically and style-wise: “All I do,” she said, “Is give women a little trick that is gonna make them look sexy and feel empowered.”

“Why don’t you do that for men? Don’t we deserve to feel sexy and empowered as well?” wondered Colbert. “You’re a feminist icon! Aren’t you being sexist against men? What makes a man sexy?”

Pause.

“Viagra?” DVF quipped. God bless.

It is also worth noting that when Colbert called her a “feminist icon,” DVF threw up the old ¯_(ツ)_/¯, which is an iconic move on its own.

She also spoke about her new reality show, House of DVF, in which several young women in fashion compete for the role of Global Brand Ambassador for DVF. “I need freshness!” The fact that she can display such calm amidst so many dud contestants on the mesmerizing-as-a-trainwreck show is indeed a testament to her grace and patience.

Who else is watching that, by the way? Of all the fashion-related, get-this-job and/or -internship reality shows, the only one in recent(-ish) memory that rivals the self-absorption and whiny assholishness of the contestants was The Fashionista Diaries. (You know, the one that documented the closure of Jane magazine in real time.) There are a couple likable candidates, for sure—Abigail, Brittany, and Jinna seem like qualified, not-mean contenders for the final round, people who could assume the prestigious position of DVF’s global brand ambassador right now, without a hitch. Meanwhile Tiffani, the dark-horse, tattooed 19-year-old from the Bronx, is arguably my favorite and should be hired to work in some other capacity for DVF because she is cool. But the rest of them better show and prove. Because DVF is a feminist icon, even Colbert recognizes.