Putting women's comfort and style front and centre - that is the secret of designer Diane von Furstenberg's success.

'It is why I am in fashion and why I do what I do - my purpose is to glorify women,' the Belgian-born American citizen (Photo 1) told Urban when she was in town last month for the opening of her first standalone DVF boutique in Singapore.

The 1,400-sqft store at Ion Orchard store offers her ready-to-wear collection, evening gowns, swimwear, accessories, shoes and handbags.

Prices for her ready-to-wear collection ranges from $400 to $1,700.

'What inspires me the most about women is their strength,' she declares. 'And what I like to do with my clothes is that when you put them on, they make you really confident and empowered.'

No surprises then that the first dress she ever designed and also the one she is best known for - the wrap dress - does exactly that for women.

'It is in jersey and therefore it is tight and close to the body. Also, the prints of the fabric are like an animal,' says von Furstenberg, 62.

'Women look feline and feel confident in them.'

In 1969, at the age of 22, she moved from Europe to New York City with her then-husband, the German Prince Egon of Furstenberg, whom she had first met as a student in Switzerland.

To remain 'independent', she decided she had to strike out on her own.

TAKING CONTROL

In 1973, she launched a collection of figure-flattering wrap dresses in New York, which became a runaway hit and have since become synonymous with her fashion label.

The couple divorced when she was 26, after 31/2 years together, but they have remained close friends, she says.

She has two children - Alexandre, 38, and Tatiana, 37 - with Prince von Furstenberg.

Von Furstenberg took a break from the fashion industry in the 1980s due to an over-saturation of her name in the market.

She had licensed out her name to too many manufacturers, from cosmetics companies to home furnishers and could not keep up with the business.

However, she successfully relaunched DVF in 1997, a decision she made in part when she realised that 'the demand for the wrap dress had returned in the 1990s along with the fashion nostalgia for the 1970s,' she wrote in her 1998 memoirs, Diane: A Signature Life.

This time around, what she has done differently is to take firm control of the steering wheel.

'I control my products by not letting them be distributed everywhere,' she says.

Today, DVF boasts more than 30 shops worldwide, and has annual sales of US$200 million (S$320 million), according to a Town & Country article in February.

CATCHING HER EYE

Besides jumping back into the fashion whirl in recent years, she has also taken the marital plunge for a second time.

In 2001, she married American media mogul Barry Diller, a long-time friend.

Agreeing to his proposal, she says playfully, 'was my birthday gift to him'.

On his part, Diller gave her 26 diamond wedding bands - one for each year they were not married.

During this interview, she sported four of these bands on her ring finger.

The other rings, she said, have been stored away, except for the two she gave to a friend.

'She was sad and I had nothing to give her, so I took off two rings and gave them to her.'

It is this generosity of spirit that truly defines von Furstenberg, who is known to be much more than just a designer.

On top of managing her multimillion-dollar business, she sits on the board of Vital Voices Global Partnership, a non-profit foundation started by United States Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright to promote women's economic progress all around the world.

She is also the president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, where she pays special attention to mentoring young designers.

She has got her eye on two American labels in particular - Alexander Wang's eponymous brand and Rodarte, by sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy.

'When you go to their showrooms, you immediately say, 'Oh yes, I understand what they do'. It means that they have a point of view,' she says.

'Otherwise, it is just clothes.'

This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times.