Diane Von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge, the Disney+ documentary review

Making history means going against what you’re told to do. AND Diane Von Furstenberg history has really made it. In a historical moment in which the small screen seems to light up with a rediscovered passion for the world of fashion and the great stylists who have made it immortal (from Balenciagaa Dior con The New Lookpassing through Karl Lagerfeld) Disney+ puts aside the biographical reconstruction, to produce a dynamic, fresh, pop documentary, which recovers and follows the style of that woman who is ready to place at the center of the scene.

Split-screen, pseudo cuts of the shots as if they were sheets of paper, historical inserts and personal photographs, are all fragments of an impactful and engaging visual narration, which are inserted and alternated with harmony and dynamism in the present of the story: it seems like a collage born from the imagination of an exponent of pop-art. Diane von Fürstenberg: Woman in charge; an internal editing within the frame, and a game of connections well studiedcapable of restoring all the originality and pioneering essence of a figure like that of the designer born in Brussels in 1946.

Diane Von Furstenberg, being yourself

Trish Dalton e Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy they manage to immediately grasp that revolutionary uniqueness that flows in Diane von Fürstenberg’s veins: a desire to separate from the crowd, of being unique and independent, which stands out in every photograph selected, in every shot re-proposed, or testimony released. It was a necessity, hers, which even before expressing itself on a stylistic level, was found in her wavy, black hair as a young Belgian teenager in a land colored by straight, blond hair, and by a sexual fluidity that was as attractive as it was scandalous at the time. . There was no sign of ambition towards the world of fashion; she didn’t want to be a stylist, Diane von Fürstenberg, she simply wanted to be one autonomous woman and in command. All it took was some cloth, a dress, and a divorce to make every wish come true and make one’s expectations real.

Life stitched together with the fabric of a career

From a personal name, Diane von Fürstenberg became a symbol of independence and femininity: wearing a dress that came from her creative workshop meant making explicit one’s knowledge of oneself, of one’s own strengths. Diane von Fürstenberg’s clothes became a status symbol, so much so that a young reporter named Oprah Winfrey she worked day and night just to save enough money to buy a piece like that. But to achieve such success you need to know the background, the essential steps that led the protagonist to be the name we all know. Each step is reported by von Fürstenberg herself sitting on the sofa at home, by her children, colleagues, or by prestigious personalities like Hillary Clinton, while everything around lives on archive images, or photographs taken from infinite family albums.

The woman behind the success

To fully understand the art of Diane von Fürstenberg, one must know more closely the woman who hides behind it: after all, for someone who has founded her empire on her name, mixing private and public, work and family, internal and external, every boundary disappears, every seam comes undone, embracing body and product, career and love. And yet, what is imprinted in the space of vision is that almost annoying sensation that wants the intimate and personal side of Diane prevail over the professional one. A choice which on the one hand may also appear intelligent and sensible: after all, as she herself states in the final moments of the documentary, no one is interested in listening to someone rattling off successes for three hours; much better, therefore, to tell where you come from, your origins, and where you want to go.

Pain strengthens, gaps slow down the journey of discovery

Yet, as interesting as the (re)discovery of the true essence of Diane von Fürstenberg may be, taking for granted that the viewer knows the reasons and triumphs that led the woman to success risks creating constant confusion. flaws in the course of the narrative which the documentary is not always able to fill. We are given flashes of information, small glimpses of information from Diane von Fürstenberg, stylist, but the visual construct is not enough, full of visual effects, interesting editing connections, or a soundtrack full of Seventies rock songs with a flavor of freedom and rebellion, to replace missing notions. Nonetheless, thanks to a story full of human and intellectual honesty, supported by an underlying wisdom and maxims ready to be internalized by the spectator himself as a life mantra, Diane von Fürstenberg: Woman in charge it proves to be a cohesive documentary, a carefully sewn and tailor-made suit, coloring a vision of life that is never banal, but always on the wave of personal independence and self-confidence.