Excited?

Thank you so much for joining us.

My name is Mary Grove, and I'm the director

of Google for Entrepreneurs, and it is my tremendous honor

to welcome Diane Von Furstenberg back to Google.

Our guest today is a remarkable talent

who needs no introduction, but I would

like to share three things that I particularly

admire about Diane.

The first is that she is the ultimate entrepreneur,

an incredible self starter whose story really embodies

the quintessential American dream.

From Diane's arrival in New York City in 1970

with just one suitcase full of dresses,

DVF products are now sold in 55 countries around the world,

and has evolved far beyond the iconic wrap dress which we're

celebrating the 40th anniversary of this year.

Number two, is Diane's steadfast commitment

to empowering women all over the world.

In 2011 she established, through the Diller Von Furstenberg

Family Foundation, the DVF awards.

And these awards recognize women who show tremendous courage

and bravery in the face of adversity.

I admire everything she does to support women.

And thirdly, I admire her generosity and openness

and sharing so personally her own story,

her own amazing family history, her journey in establishing

and building a global brand that is loved around the world,

her personal battle with cancer which she fought courageously

and successfully, and her views on love and life.

Please join me in welcoming Diane Von Furstenberg.

DIANE VON FURSTENBERG: Hi.

MARY GROVE: Welcome, it's wonderful to have you back.

DIANE VON FURSTENBERG: Thank you.

When I came here to speak in 2005,

I think, they were practically no women here.

and I'm not sure the others knew who I was.

And that's definitely changed.

And but it was pretty amazing already,

but it was nothing compared to what it is now.

So it's fun to be here.

MARY GROVE: Welcome back.

Before we get started, I want to cue just a quick video, which

is the journey of the wrap dress.

[VIDEO PLAYBACK]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[END VIDEO PLAYBACK]

So Diane, I wanted to get started

by talking about your roots, and you shared so much

of your personal journey-- you open your book by talking

about your mother's courageous story as a Holocaust survivor,

how she gave birth to you against all odds.

And she said to you, you are my torch of freedom,

and taught you that fear is not an option.

Can you share with us a memory of how your mother helped

you become the woman you wanted to be.

DIANE VON FURSTENBERG: Well, first of all,

I think my mother was, what they call today, a tiger mom.

Which is that, if I was afraid of the dark

she would lock me into the closet, which today you

could probably be arrested for.

But of course, after 10 minutes, it wasn't dark anymore,

because when you're in the dark for 10 minutes you can see.

And also you realize that there's no reason to be afraid.

So my mother didn't want me to be afraid.

And one of the reasons why she didn't want me to be afraid

is because of her own history.

At the age of 22, she was a prisoner of war

and she went to the Nazi concentration

camp of Auschwitz and Ravensbruck and a third one.

She came back, she weighed 49 pounds,

I mean, less than her bones.

She wasn't supposed to have survived but she did.

She went back home and her mother fed her.

Six months later her fiancee came back to Belgium--

he had been in Switzerland-- and they got married,

and the doctor said you absolutely cannot have a child.

Because if you have a child-- your body

can't handle it, and besides the child

will probably be not normal.

Well, sure enough, I was born nine months later,

and I was not normal.

And you know when-- well, you are all young

so you know that when your mother is very strong

you protect yourself from all that strength.

But then when your mother passes away,

you think a little bit more of the impact that she had on me.

And so I wanted to tell her story.

And by telling-- by doing research and telling her story,

I realize that I am her vengeance.

And I am the way I am because of that, because of what she was.

So I ended up writing about my mother

and then ended up writing about me.

And so this book, this memoir has been really difficult.

I've never gone to a therapy before, and I did that.

But I really opened myself, and I tell it really

as it is because I think that truth and honesty is certainly

the most useful thing you could do for yourself,

but it's also good to do it, to have others do it.

So I am glad that people are responding well to the book,

because otherwise I would feel terrible.

I would feel horrible that I open myself for nothing.

So I hope you enjoy.

MARY GROVE: Thank you for doing that, absolutely.

So in the business of fashion the wrap dress

which launched in 1974, by 1978 had sold millions already

throughout the nation and it was revolutionary in its softness,

its versatility.

What do you think the wrap dress symbolized then,

and what does it symbolize now, 40 years later.

DIANE VON FURSTENBERG: Well, the first thing it symbolized

is that I could pay my bills.

Which was, at the end, my first goal

was to be independent because my mother put it in my head,

and I really wanted to be independent.

So I became independent through that dress.

But because it was fashion, what now I realize-- of course I

didn't realize it then, but now looking back-- I

realize that as I was becoming independent and confident

and the woman I wanted to be, I was sharing it

to other women in fitting rooms.

So I was getting confident and I was selling confidence

through the dress.

So that dress, to me, I just made that dress.

It's not like I thought it was something

that will live for that long.

But I guess that in the sense that it

was my need, my own personal need for freedom.

The dress was good quality, it was effortless, it was sexy,

it was not too expensive, but it just molded you.

It was proper enough and sexy enough.

Somehow I guess that message that was done through a dress

really took on, and women really reacted to it.

And everyone in America wore that dress.

I mean, I was 25 and within no time at all

we were making 25,000 dresses a week,

which is 50,000 sleeves, that's a lot.

I remember I used to say that because it looked like more.

So I lived an American dream, which

of course, my American dream is nothing compared to a Google.

I mean, it was very minute.

But it was, nevertheless, an American dream

and I was a young woman.

MARY GROVE: So speaking of Google, and welcome back

to Silicon Valley, you've always been so transformative

and disrupting the fashion industry if you look back

across the last four decades.

You started selling your dresses on QVC and the Home Shopping

Network before merchandise clothing was really

sold on television.

Last year you worked with Sergey to debut Google glass in a DVF

fashion show, as well as launch the first shoppable Hangout

where consumers could purchase products live through a Google+

Hangout.

So looking now, what technologies

are you most excited about or do you think

are most critical to the success of your business?

DIANE VON FURSTENBERG: Well first of all, I joke always

and I say that I'm so happy that I am old enough

to have danced at Studio 54, and young enough

to be part of the digital revolution.

MARY GROVE: I saw you Instagram outside.

Before we came in.

DIANE VON FURSTENBERG: I do.

And so I love technology.

And I think it's so incredible what has happened,

and all the grounds that we've broken,

and all the things that you can do that there was no way

that we could dream that we could do.

So I am very, very into it and I love it.

And again, it was an accident that I presented the Google

Glass first in the world.

I mean, it was-- but it just shows you

that when you are young-- or not young--

it's important to push the doors whatever is happening.

And it's just because I saw Sergey

hiding behind a tree trying these things.

And I said, what are you doing?

And he said, come, I show you.

And they hadn't shown anyone.

This was in Sand Valley and he showed

me that and we started to talk.

And it was July and I said, Sergey have you ever

been to a fashion show?

He said, no never.

I said, you should come to my show in September.

That was it.

And then two or three weeks later, I get a call from Sergey

and he said, you know, I was thinking how

about showing Google Glass on the runway.

And I thought, oh.

I didn't even understand what he was talking about.

I said sure.

And what it was, it must have been

that day with talking marketing, and saying, how can

we show it to the world in the way that is not just dry tech.

And somebody said the word fashion,

and he said, oh fashion.

I have a friend in fashion.

She invited me to a fashion show.

And that is actually how the whole thing happened.

And when you read the book, it's at the very end

of the whole story it's at the very end of the book.

You'll see that that day I wasn't particularly loving

my show, and so anyway, Google Glass kind of saved

my show because-- anyway, so it's a long story,

but it just shows you that you always

have to be very wide open and curious and open to anything.

MARY GROVE: So on that note, in following your journey,

I notice that you have a unique for recognizing an opportunity

and then seizing the moment.

So one example would be in your book

you talk to how you had trained in Italy,

and you noticed this trend in Europe where t-shirts, fashion

t-shirts were just becoming fashionable in the Jersey

material, the soft material.

And so you brought that to America

and then evolved it to the wrap dress.

Another example would be relaunching your business

when you noticed that the hip young girls were

wearing vintage DVF dresses from the 70s

and relaunching the wrap dress.

I'm curious if you see any big new opportunities today,

if you think fashion startups can really do anything

to seize a gap.

DIANE VON FURSTENBERG: Oh, my god.

You don't need any-- you don't need me to tell you that.

I mean, there's so many intelligent people here

were looking for opportunities and pushing the ground.

I mean, if anything, I'm here to learn from you.

But it is, I think it is important to dare

and push and look and be curious and also when you fail,

you fail.

Then you get back up and do it again.

It's-- life is a journey.

It's a big journey.

And people come in, people go out, you have successes,

you have failures, and as long as you're true to yourself,

it's OK.

MARY GROVE: So I want to talk about the brand,