Diane von Furstenberg on the Impact of Her Iconic Wrap Dress — and Her Top Style Tip: ‘Be Yourself’ (Exclusive)

Fifty years after Diane von Furstenberg created the wrap dress, the cultural luminary’s presence in the fashion industry is still as palpable today. 

To celebrate her creation’s milestone anniversary, von Furstenberg, who's now cochair of her eponymous brand, recently launched a capsule collection featuring the silhouette in a new Crossword print. She also designed limited-edition sunglasses with Italian eyewear brand L.G.R. And, in addition, she launched a whopping 200-piece assortment with Target that ranged from apparel and accessories to home decor, including made-to-order furniture, that naturally sold out.

As she looked back on the history of the piece — and ahead to the premiere of her documentary, Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge, during a recent chat with PEOPLE, the legendary designer shared that when she first thought up the garment, she hadn’t imagined it’d have such a lasting impact. 

“I didn’t know when I made that little dress that it was going to be a social phenomenon and that people would be buying it 50 years later,” she says of her famous design. 

“I made the wrap dress, but really the wrap dress made me. It just happened. I owe her as much as she owes me,” continued the author and philanthropist, 77. 

Von Furstenberg added that the dress is “a vehicle” for her to honor women. “I care about [her],” von Furstenberg says. 

Of its longtime popularity, she surmises, “I think it’s successful because it makes a woman feel confident.” 

Von Furstenberg, who says she sees her wrap dress on women when she’s out and about “all the time,” shares that her best style tip is “be yourself.”

She continues, "It’s not trying to be who you are not. Embrace your imperfections. If you do, you turn them into assets. I can’t say it enough: There’s nothing more becoming than that.”

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In the documentary, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 5 and debuted on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ internationally on June 25, von Furstenberg can be seen gracefully climbing into her sink to get a close-up of her skin while moisturizing her bare face. 

It’s a striking moment that sums up her take on beauty and aging.

“I never had my hair or makeup done for [the documentary],” von Furstenberg explains. 

“The point is: I think that people are too afraid of aging. But aging is a good thing. Aging proves that you have already lived. I never thought I would get to be my age. I used to think I was going to die by the time I was 30 because I had accomplished so much by the time I was 28. That’s why I say, instead of asking, ‘How old are you?’ you should ask, ‘How long have you lived?’ And then, all of a sudden you answer with pride.”

Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge was directed by Academy Award winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Trish Dalton and produced by Fabiola Beracasa Beckman, Tracy Aftergood and Sean Stuart as well as Obaid-Chinoy and Dalton.

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Watch the film, a Sutter Road Picture Company and Particle Projects/Fabiola Beracasa Beckman Media production, on Hulu now.