LACMA Features Dianne Von Furstenberg: ‘The Journey of A Dress’
February 19, 2014
What better way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Dianne Von Furstenberg’s signature wrap dress than to create an exhibit dedicated to the design itself?
In 1974, Furstenberg created her most popular dress made to flatter everyone, “the wrap dress.” This iconic style features fabric draped and layered all around the torso, creating a classic wrap-like look. Each dress is uniquely designed with anything from a floral pattern to an animal print design. In honor of the dress’ 40th anniversary, the people of LACMA decided to create an entire exhibit featuring endless amounts of one-of-a-kind wrap dresses, all organized by the year they were made.

By 1976, Furstenberg sold over a million wrap dresses. She was featured on the cover of some of the most popular magazines, describing Furstenberg as “the most marketable woman since Coco Chanel.” The dresses in the exhibit are featured elegantly and fitted to a mannequin with the year it was made engraved on a plaque below it.
Walking into the ravishing exhibit, called “Journey Of A Dress,” one is encompassed by the blush-colored walls and neon-lit words spread across the room. The floor of the exhibit is in the same exact pattern as some of the wrap dresses that Furstenberg has designed over the course of her journey through the fashion industry.
Since the wrap dress became her signature look many years ago, her catch phrase “feel like a woman, wear a dress!” has perfectly captured the figure hugging design.
As of 2014, Furstenberg is still creating wonderful new designs for wrap dresses, and never fails to impress the fashion world with her works of art.

Source: Helena Heslov ’16
Many celebrities have been seen wearing their own unique choice of wrap dresses from strutting down the red carpet to enjoying a night out on the town.
Featured Image: A few of Furstenberg’s pieces from various eras displayed on orderly mannequins. Photographer: Helena Heslov ’16

Helena Heslov graduated in 2016. She became a member of the Oracle staff in 2013 and was the Lifestyle editor for the first three quarters of 2014-2015....
Great article! I have been thinking about getting to the DVF retrospective and now I am definitely going to see it.