Diane von Furstenberg
Fashion industry survivor Diane von Furstenberg presides over an empire that includes clothing, fragrances, and accessories. She's married to media mogul Barry Diller.
Born into a Jewish family in Belgium, while Diane Halfin was attending the University of Geneva, she met German Prince Egon von Furstenberg. She was already pregnant with their first child when they married in Paris in 1969. Settling in New York a year later, Diane soon set about marketing her fashion designs. When legendary Vogue editor Diana Vreeland took a liking to her work, von Furstenberg became a fashion sensation in short order with her now-iconic wrap dress. A fixture on the swirling '70s social scene, by the middle part of the decade von Furstenberg had established herself as one of the hottest designers in town. But her career took a nosedive in the early 1980s when her fashions petered out and sales dried up. With the business in jeopardy, von Furstenberg sold off her
licenses and made a hasty retreat to Paris. She didn't stay down and out for long. In 1992, she returned to the biz with Silk Assets, a downmarket clothing line on QVC which sold out in two hours. In 1997, she relaunched the house that she continues to run to this day, staging a comeback that's rarely seen in the world of high fashion.
<p?Diane and Prince Egon divorced in 1973, and though there were many affairs in the intervening years (with Richard Gere and Warren Beatty to name just two), she didn't remarry until 2001, when she tied the knot with Barry Diller. The union raised eyebrows considering Diller has been in gay relationships for most of his adult life. [Image via AP]