The indomitable Diane von Furstenberg was awarded the 2026 Couture Council Award from the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology on Thursday afternoon for her transformational influence on women’s fashion.
“It is incredible to see so many people that I have crossed paths with,” said von Furstenberg, before the luncheon began. Among the guests at Gotham Hall were Dr. Joyce F. Brown, former president of FIT, Martha Stewart, Linda Fargo, Jane Hertzberg Hudis, Narciso Rodriguez, Zane Li, LaQuan Smith, Ken Dowling, Henry Zankov, Daniella Kallmeyer, Jean Shafiroff, Jasmin Larian Hekmat, Danielle Frankel Hirsch, Emily Dawn Long, Jonathan Cohen, Nicole Miller, Candace Bushnell, Denise Magid, Sarah Wetenhall, Constance C.R. White, and Fern Mallis.
Henry Zankov, artistic director of Diane von Furstenberg and founder and designer of his own company, Zankov, kicked off the festivities. “This is truly a full-circle moment for me. For those of you who may not know, I’m a graduate of FIT.”
He said that one thing that von Furstenberg has always said is that designers are like architects. “We have to understand not only how something is made, but also how to experience it, how it moves and how it will make you feel,” said Zankov, who showed his first collection for DVF at the High Line in September.
Zankov said that at FIT, he learned to work with both his hands and his mind to take an idea and give it form and bring something entirely new to the world.
“It was here that I developed the foundation, the discipline and the confidence to build a career that would eventually lead me to create my own brand. So standing on this stage today, back in a place that helped me shape who I am, is incredibly meaningful. And to be here to honor the extraordinary Diane von Furstenberg makes this moment all the more special,” said Zankov.
“I have always been surrounded by and inspired by strong women, women who lead with conviction, who challenge convention and who understand that true influence comes from having the courage to be entirely yourself. Diane embodies all of that and so much more. She is a force, an icon and a reminder of what is possible,” added Zankov.
Before turning to DVF, Jason S. Schupbach, the new president of FIT, discussed how the last few days have been particularly difficult for the FIT community “as a wound was reopened publicly.” [A female FIT student who fatally overdosed on fentanyl was raped by a man who gave her the drug in her dorm room last March. A federal indictment, unsealed with allegations of drug conspiracy and rape, named two male teenagers in the three-count criminal case on Oct. 15.]
“While I hope you have read my official statement, let me be clear: FIT is a strong and safe community. Part of being a strong and safe community means that as a community, we support each other through difficult times. We want justice to be served, and we will always condemn harm towards women and anyone in our community,” said Schupbach.
Schupbach then thanked von Furstenberg for being such an icon and supporting and lifting up so many young creators and especially women throughout her career. He pointed to the beautiful fabric runners on the tables which featured a DVF print that has been used for over three decades.
Schupbach also presented the Museum at FIT Student Award to Chloe LaBel, an art history and museum professions student at FIT, Class of 2027. The award recognizes a student who exemplifies outstanding initiative, a high level of responsibility and a willingness to contribute beyond the core responsibilities of a museum facilitator role. It also recognizes students who demonstrate exceptional potential and professional promise in emerging museum professionals.
“To me, museums are a place where we can step outside of ourselves and experience worlds different from our own,” said LaBel. “Through art, I’ve managed to better understand myself and to constantly question how I look at the world around me. Receiving the MFIT student award is an incredible honor, and I am humbled to be surrounded by so many incredibly creative people here today.”
Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of The Museum at FIT, said, “Thank you for being here to support the Museum at FIT and to celebrate the life and work of Diane von Furstenberg. I am so grateful to Diane for her inspirational life and work, and for being with us today.”
In presenting the 2026 Couture Council Award to von Furstenberg, Vanessa Friedman, fashion director and chief fashion critic of The New York Times, said there are a lot of words she can use to describe the honoree, “who I call Diane von Furstenberg — Diane, Dion, potato, potahto, she said I could call her whatever I want.
“We call her designer, entrepreneur, feminist, activist, philanthropist, mother, grandmother, daughter, friend, mentor, hiker, icon, pioneer. But the term I actually prefer is ‘force of nature,’ which I know is three words, but that’s the point. It is impossible reduce her to just one,” said Friedman.
Friedman described von Furstenberg as a woman who wasn’t supposed to exist. Her mother was a Holocaust survivor who was told she could never have children. “Yet, there her baby is. She has defied the odds ever since. She’s a woman with no formal design training who came to New York and created a fashion business so successful, it landed her on the cover of Newsweek at 29,” said Friedman. “A woman who reinvented that business not just once, but three times.”
She said she made her return to the runway this past September during New York Fashion Week, and changed the city itself, thanks to her stewardship through the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation of the High Line and Little Island and championed the New York fashion industry as chairman of the CFDA for over a dozen years. And she rescued Lady Liberty.
“And maybe most importantly, though Diane often seems superhuman and unbelievably glamorous to those of us who watch her career with our jaws on the floor, she has always been willing to show her imperfect side. I can’t think of another founder who would have told me on the record when her business was being restructured in the pandemic, ‘There’s no shame in admitting you are in trouble’ or another woman this side of 50, who allowed a documentary crew to film her first thing in the morning climbing onto her sink to do her makeup.”
Friedman noted that von Furstenberg has won numerous prizes, such as the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, and is a member of the National Women’s Hall of Fame. “A quality of hers that I prize the most is the fact that she never stops. To that point, on the eve of her 80th birthday, she has taken a new project saving Venice.”
Von Furstenberg accepted her award and recounted her life story — from growing up in Belgium and then going to private schools in Europe, working for a printing factory outside of Como, Italy, making jersey separates and tops with their knitting machines, meeting Egon von Furstenberg, getting pregnant, getting married, coming to New York, setting up a business and showing in a hotel, taking out an ad in WWD and several years later landing on the cover of Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal.
She recalled one day she was flying to Pittsburgh, and had The Wall Street Journal next to her and a man was admiring her legs and trying to find a way to talk to her. “He looks at me and said, ‘Why does a girl like you read The Wall Street Journal?’” She said she could have told him because the WSJ story was about her. “I said nothing,” and saying nothing gave her the best satisfaction she ever had.
“But of course, every time I speak, I tell the story,” she said.