"I travel so much that for me travel and life are the same," says Diane von Furstenberg. The Belgian-born fashion designer has always been peripatetic and adventurous. In her twenties she married Austro-Italian Prince Egon von Furstenberg (whom she later divorced), moved to New York and had two children, Tatiana and Alexandre. In the 1970s, she launched a successful career, selling five million sexy, sophisticated wrap dresses. Two decades later, after years away from the spotlight, she reinvented her iconic dress and used it as the cornerstone of her fashion empire. (There's even a maternity line.) She has stores in New York, Miami, London and Paris and will open shops in Hong Kong and Los Angeles later this year. Travel remains one of von Furstenberg's greatest passions and provides inspiration for her designs. She often goes sailing with her husband, media magnate Barry Diller, whom she married in 2001, and has houses in New York, Connecticut, Paris and the Bahamas. As she indicates in her 1998 memoir, Diane: A Signature Life she packs her bags constantly.
You've said that Russian literature influenced your fall 2005 collection. Tell me about your trip to Moscow.
Russia has changed a lot since I first visited it, in 1967, with my father, who grew up there. That was during the Cold War, and the atmosphere was very hard-core. Twenty years later, when I returned with my children, it was the beginning of glasnost and things were warming up. Now Russia is definitely emerging as a consumer market. The people are gorgeous, and the women want exactly what everyone in New York and Paris is wearing. When I was in Moscow in May, I took a tour of Tolstoy's house in Khamovniki. I also attended a dinner hosted by the Tolstoy Museum, where a mini fashion show of my line was held in a garden surrounded by lilacs.
Russian literature and the world it describes have always captured my imagination. My fall collection, for example, draws on Dr. Zhivago. It incorporates the somber tones of the revolution—red, olive and blue—with military details. There are Cossack rugs, fur-trimmed silk parkas and rope belts. But my metallic chiffons and taffeta trench coats evoke the glitter of chandeliers and the rustle of crinolines in the palaces of St. Petersburg. Velvet petticoats with cotton shirts hint at nesting dolls.
Do you have fond memories of traveling with your family as a child?
I loved traveling, because it broke the monotony of living in Brussels. My parents would often go out in the evenings and leave me alone at the hotel. I would sneak out of the room and talk with the maids and porters and have a great time. Moving around was a way of life for us. It still is for me. I adore being on the road, even for trips that are not very glamorous. I also like to travel alone. Nothing makes me happier than to discover new countries and lose myself in unfamiliar landscapes where no one knows who I am. On the road is where I feel most free.
Like my parents, I took my children all over the place when they were growing up. Sometimes we went to the most obscure destinations, and my kids would get angry with me. But when they were filling out their school applications and were asked about the most fantastic things they did, they would remember our trips.
Today when Barry and I are traveling on our boat, which is most of the time if we are not working, we always hike around and explore wherever we are—be it the Caribbean, Greece or the Amalfi coast.
Describe a perfect, unexpected moment from one of your trips.
Not long ago I went to Africa for the first time, accompanied by my husband and six friends. It was a revelation. We drove through the Okavango Delta, in Botswana, past ebony trees with marvelous trunks and Mopani trees with butterfly-shaped leaves. We saw zebras and feminine giraffes with long eyelashes. We rafted on the Zambezi river and explored wild marshes and waterways, amid papyrus plants, water lilies and a multitude of birds.
The highlight of our trip was gorilla tracking in Volcanoes National Park, in Rwanda, one of the last mountain-gorilla sanctuaries in the world. Deep in the bush, we heard a gorilla, then glimpsed it just a few feet away. Suddenly there were four more: a huge silverback and a female with two babies. We spent the next hour surrounded by gorillas. They were pulling off branches, eating away and having a wonderful time. It was an unbelievable and unforgettable experience.
What other countries have fascinated you?
Brazil is incredible. I was in São Paulo a few months ago to launch my line of precious jewelry for H. Stern; the store is on Oscar Freire, which is like Madison Avenue. I have never seen anything like the fashion boutique Daslu, and I very much enjoyed the Hotel Fasano, which is in the chic neighborhood of Jardins.
While we were in Brazil, we flew from Recife to Fernando de Noronha, a tiny island in the Atlantic Ocean. It's an ecological refuge where you can swim with dolphins or in clear pools with colorful fish. We stayed in a small, beautiful hotel called Pousada Maravilha.
What's your favorite hotel?
I adore Claridge's, in London, because it's so civilized and luxurious. I felt so independent and grown up when I went there for the first time on my own.
What would you never leave home without?
My camera! It's always in my bag or pocket. Even at night I would rather carry a camera than lipstick. I photograph whatever catches my eye: fabrics, people, roofs, nature. When I travel, I try to be as flexible as possible and open to anything, eyes wide and camera ready.
Diane von Furstenberg's Moscow
Where to shop: Garderobe, an international fashion boutique that also stocks vintage designs. "It's very exclusive and carries lots of top designers from New York, Paris and Milan," says von Furstenberg. 24/6 B. Nikitskaya; 011-7-095-291-7201.
Where to stay: The Ararat Park Hyatt Moscow, which overlooks the Bolshoi Theatre. "I used to stay at the National Hotel because of the view of the Kremlin, but now I have discovered the Ararat, which is elegant and has an attentive staff." 4 Neglinnaya St.; 011-7-095-783-1234; moscow.park.hyatt.com.
Where to eat: The multilevel Café Pushkin, whose first floor is open twenty-four hours a day. The restaurant serves Russian and French cuisine, and its waiters dress and act as if they had stepped off the pages of a 19th-century novel. "I love the atmosphere." 26a Tverskoi Bulvar; 011-7-095-229-5590. Also try the Italian restaurant Palazzo Ducale, which is open from noon to midnight. "The vitello tonnato is delicious." 3 Tverskoi Bulvar; 011-7-095-107-7173.
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