Queen of Fashion Week

Diane von Furstenberg is evidently a one-woman phenomenon, between her memoirs, civic involvement, and the success of her fashion line. The New York Observer reports that von Furstenberg is the "mayoress" of New York Fashion Week for her modest, idiosyncratic clothing that sells well among upper-middle-class women who aren't quite up to the high fashion houses. Daughter of an Auschwitz survivor and the former wife of a Swiss prince, von Furstenberg first rose to fame thanks to the little wrap dress, which signified sexual independence, a style that was revived 10 years ago. As von Furstenberg puts it, "In the middle of a tsunami, we can't change everything, but I would like to make New York Fashion Week the most dynamic in the world." (Von Furstenberg is married to Barry Diller, CEO of The Daily Beast's parent company, IAC.)