Why Diane von Furstenberg says it’s okay to “feel like a loser” 

“That’s the stupidest thing—to fear getting older. Instead of saying how old you are, say how many years you’ve lived. Be proud that you’ve lived 79 years.” 

Revered fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg doesn’t sugar-coat, and she certainly doesn’t hold back. She meets life head-on, greeting everyone she encounters with a refreshing candour that feels both disarming and deeply sincere. 

Yet there’s a softness to her too—a quiet attentiveness that reveals itself in the smallest moments. “Do you need a cushion for your back?” she asks almost immediately when we meet, seated in a suite at The Singapore EDITION. 

Dressed in a patterned two-piece, the vivacious Belgian fashion icon radiates warmth. Beyond her signature bodacious curls, what stands out is her presence—curious, engaged, and entirely unguarded. At one point, she points to a small plastic figurine attached to my phone, examining it with almost childlike fascination, all while patiently and thoughtfully answering every question I pose. 

Some five decades ago, Diane—better known by her initials DVF—launched a powerhouse fashion label before the age of 30, with her name becoming almost synonymous with the universally flattering wrap dress. In 2026, she made history once again with the launch of InCharge Essence d’Eau, Estée Lauder’s first-ever alcohol-free, water-based fragrance. 

It is one of three hero products in the InCharge Collection, a collaboration with DVF. The InCharge Collection also includes the InCharge Glossy Lip Oil Collection—a trio of lightweight, conditioning lip oils with the shine of a gloss—and the InCharge Multi-Use Blush Stick, a versatile sculpting blush stick in “Pink Me” a universally flattering pink with a peach undertone and a creamy, blendable formula. 

Here, she speaks on the collaboration, the legacy she hopes to leave behind, and owning her own story. 

On how the InCharge collection came to be: 

“I met the CEO (The Estée Lauder Companies) because I gave him a prize for a women’s organisation, Vital Voices Global Partnership. It’s a women’s organisation that I’ve been on the board of forever—I’m their biggest supporter—and we gave him an award. He came to me and said, ‘I would like to do a collaboration with you that would benefit women,’ an International Women’s Day initiative.

They said, ‘We have a presentation that we would like to make to you.’ When they came, before they showed me anything, I said, ‘I would like to give you a history of my history with beauty.’ When I was younger, in the late ’70s to ’80s, I created a cosmetics line that was extremely successful. I gave him a brief of that. There was also a water-based fragrance that I had worked on. By the time I showed him that, they never showed me their presentation—so that was how we created In Charge.” 

On her beauty routine: 

“I’m an old woman—my beauty routine is: sleep well, eat well, and be as much myself as possible.” 

On staying true to herself: 

“You have to own your own story. It’s very important. First of all, to be true to yourself. It’s not always easy, but it’s the most important thing. To know the relationship with yourself is the most important thing. Once you have that, any other relationship is a plus, not a must. You stand for who you are. By asking the question of owning your own story or truth, you’ve already answered the question.” 

On being the best version of yourself: 

“Sometimes you feel like a loser. Only losers don’t feel like losers—but that’s okay too. You can only be you. You don’t have an alternative. Be the best you can be. Don’t compare yourself to others. You look at the woman across the room—she always looks so together. But the truth is, for her, you are the woman across the room. It’s all about being comfortable with who you are. You make the best you can.” 

On the legacy she hopes to leave behind: 

“Legacy is three things: the people you touch. I was lucky because, by a series of coincidences and the way my life happened, I became the woman I wanted to be because of a little dress. That little dress wasn’t very expensive. My confidence became that dress, and it also became the confidence of a million women. It became a flag of freedom. I was 26 or 27 when I was at the top of my success. Sometimes I was a little provocative, but that was my voice. Everyone has a voice. It’s a serious thing to have a voice. The family you make—whether it’s biological or not—and your body of work.” 

On her greatest advice to women: 

“To constantly question yourself—even when you’re at the top of your success. Maybe you’re not. The world thinks you are at the top, but you’re having difficulty. The world thinks you’re finished, but you’re already starting something new. It’s important that you, yourself, constantly question yourself—your memory. You only live in your body and your mind. You’ve got to ride it the best you can.” 

On getting older: 

“That’s the stupidest thing—to fear getting older. Instead of saying how old you are, say how many years you have lived. You are proud that you’ve lived 79 years. I can’t pretend that I’m a week younger than I am. I read books, I learn new things. The older, the richer. You don’t look the same as you did at 25, but you know a lot more. You have children, grandchildren. You have the body of your life.”