Diane Von Furstenberg, known for her ubiquitous wrap-dress, is completing her return to fashion’s favor by opening shops both uptown and downtown in spring 2001.
A deal for the uptown outpost, a 550-square-foot shop in Henri Bendel, is not completed, but is tentatively scheduled to open in February. The first Diane Von Furstenberg freestanding flagship store is to open downtown, at 389 W. 12th St. in Greenwich Village. The West Village store is scheduled to open its doors at the end of March.
This designer first hit it big in the early 1970s when she created her signature wrap-dress. Known for her presence on the Studio 54 scene, her reputation as a jet-setting princess only added to the allure of her fashions.
Though a survivor of high-profile romances with Ryan O’Neal and Richard Gere, and a near constant companion of Barry Diller, who is currently the chairman of USA Networks, Von Furstenberg fell on hard times, fashion-wise, in the 1980s and early ’90s.
Business-wise, though, she continued to sell millions of dollars worth of wrap-dresses to home shoppers on QVC. As is the case in fashion, it was only a matter of cycles before she and her prints were returned to popularity.
A revitalized Diane Von Furstenberg collection has been selling to the fashionista set since the late 1990s. The team that revamped the collection includes younger, more current players, including her daughter-in-law, Alexandra, who is both the youngest Miller sister and a perennial darling of society.
The shop at Henri Bendel will be on the second floor, and it is scheduled to be opened “in time for Fashion Week [Feb. 8-16],” said Ed Burstell, vice president and general merchandise manager at the Henri Bendel division of The Limited Inc.
Burstell told The Post that they chose Diane Von Furstenberg because her sales warranted the special treatment.
“She is always one of our top-three-selling designers,” said Burstell. “We can’t do boutiques for everyone – there are only very special designers who make the cut,” he said. “DVF is perfect for that.”
The shop at Henri Bendel will carry the wrap-dress upon which she built her fortune and an expanded lifestyle collection that will include sportswear, shoes and bags.
The first freestanding Diane Von Furstenberg store, in the West Village, will be at a site that’s adjacent to the building that houses her design studio and private living quarters. Just south of the Meat Packing district, the area is not known for heavy retail traffic.
The store will serve as the company’s flagship, allowing the firm to showcase products. It will also serve as a prototype for stores in other cities such as Los Angeles, London and Paris.
Von Furstenberg was traveling with Diller in Singapore and was unavailable for comment.