The Couple That Has Everything. Is Everything Enough?

Editor’s note: This communicative archetypal appeared successful the February 5, 1973, contented of New York. (Diane von Fürstenberg later said that speechmaking it made her recognize her matrimony was finished.) We’re republishing it present to people the merchandise of the documentary Diane von Furstenberg: Woman successful Charge.

Egon and Diane von und zu Fürstenberg are this week’s mates of the year, the newest darlings successful what passes for high-powered societal beingness successful New York. They are a striking European duet with conscionable the close look of royalty, money, charm, and a dollop of decadence. They instrumentality america beyond run-of-the-mill excess arsenic they research the opportunities of unfastened marriage.

The Prince and Princess (the rubric derives from 15th-century Germany, the wealth from Egon’s mother, Clara Agnelli of Fiat fortune) volition not punctual you of Andy Hardy and his champion miss oregon of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace. Nor even, getting person to home, of Tricia Nixon and Fast Eddie Cox. They marque past year’s best-beloveds, Carter and Amanda, look similar a brace of knock-kneed cheerleaders. But they person their moments, the Von Fürstenbergs do.

They assertion to beryllium 26 years aged (he looks it, she doesn’t), person 2 children; some tally talked-about manner businesses, and they are said to thrust youth-fare connected their predominant Atlantic jet-crossings.

Diane, a tall, slender pistillate with Middle Eastern eyes and bonzer breasts, enjoys appearing successful diaphanous fabrics that amusement her disconnected to champion advantage, and has posed nude for manner lensman Francesco Scavullo (“She’ll writer maine if I springiness you that photo,” says Scavullo). Her eyes blue-rimmed connected the bottom, fume grey connected the lids, her rima down-curved into a posture of terminal boredom, she radiates contempt and a peculiar sensuality that mocks men alternatively than lures them.

She designs women’s wear. The apparel are based, alternatively closely, connected the small things she buys successful the European shops and brings backmost to mass-produce successful New York. Egon sells caftans. The caftans are based, alternatively closely, connected what respective cardinal Arabs person worn for years.

In New York they person not 1 but 2 adjoining apartments astatine 1050 Park Avenue, 1 level for them and the different for their Italian nanny and the children, 3-year-old Alexandre and 2-year-old Tatiana.

Diane and Egon correspond a modern mentation of someone’s American Dream: young immigrants, hard-working, raising a family, entertaining and being entertained, knowing everyone and being known.

“It’s a large bore to beryllium ever going out,” Egon complains, “but we wouldn’t person the accidental to conscionable the apical radical if we weren’t portion of that scene. I tin telephone Andre Meyer, Charles Bluhdorn, Henry Ford with a bully idea, and spot them the adjacent day.”

It’s bloody hard work, of course, but it’s what you’ve got to bash if you expect, dare, hope, to go New York’s reigning Glory Couple.

After a uncommon luncheon unneurotic (Diane usually eats astatine her desk, Egon astatine the Zum Zum successful the Empire State Building), they caput backmost to their offices. “It would beryllium excessively casual for america to unrecorded successful Europe,” Diane says, “where each Egon needs to bash is accidental his name. Europe is past. We unrecorded successful today, which is wherefore I near Europe to bring up my children here. It is important to beryllium to your time.”

“I person to beryllium independent,” Diane feels. “It is an highly hard concern betwixt men and women now. A pistillate doesn’t request a antheral anymore, but she pretends she needs his protection. Men are the large losers. They don’t cognize however to grip the caller woman. But then, the caller pistillate doesn’t cognize however she wants to beryllium handled.”

The greeting tray comes successful astatine 8 with the Times and the News. Though they person been joined for 3 and a fractional years, they person known each different since assemblage days. “We are each other’s family,” explains Diane. “He is my champion person and I americium his. There is thing of him I don’t know. And besides, we don’t instrumentality thing precise seriously. The lone mode for a narration to survive, I think, is to person nary enactment astatine all. After all, you wed for friendship, for companionship — and passionateness aft a portion … pfffft. I mean, does it excite you erstwhile your near manus touches your right?”

Every morning, successful existent antiauthoritarian fashion, Prince Egon descends from his Park Avenue castle and subways to enactment successful his caller bureau astatine the Empire State Building. “It takes maine lone 15 minutes doorway to door,” helium shrugs, “and besides, I emotion to look astatine the people. I looked astatine 1 miss for a year, and yet I met her.” Egon is into his 5th vocation now, having started successful a grooming programme astatine Chase Manhattan, jumping to Lazard Frères, past a stint successful existent estate, past different grooming program, this clip successful selling astatine Korvette’s, and present the one-month-old Egon von Fürstenberg, Ltd. “I was precise cheery and had 150 ideas,” helium says of his days connected Wall Street. “I ne'er was a bully analyst. I had excessively overmuch joyousness of surviving to beryllium down there.”

Diane’s manner concern is exploding, her customers increasing from 30 stores to 300 successful 9 months, her volume, according to Egon, implicit $2 cardinal for the year. It is her passion. “I’d alternatively enactment than bash thing astatine home,” she says. “I hatred to cook, hatred to bash housework. It is wholly ungratifying.” Ambition flares successful her eyes. “I’m going to enactment successful concern until my representation is connected the screen of Fortune.”

Diane shirt-shopping astatine Madonna, 220 East 60th Street: “I’m acrophobic that 1 nighttime I’m conscionable going to halt living. I consciousness a large impulse to hurry to bash everything.” “I’m much unafraid than she is,” Egon says. “She relies lone connected herself and looks to support herself. She worries … Oh, she worries … decease worries her terribly.”

Diane has her hairsbreadth done doubly a week astatine Elizabeth Arden’s and is terrified present astatine the complaint it’s falling out. “The unit is intense,” she feels. “Woman are becoming excessively beautiful, excessively strong. But there’s nary different mode to be. What bash you privation maine to do? Go retired to lunch? Find a lover? So what. What would it bring me? But present it’s opening to hurt. And I don’t similar to hurt.”

Egon and his mother, Clara Nuvoletti, née Agnelli, astatine Rizzoli: this gathering, tonier than the accustomed publication party, was mostly successful Italian to motorboat Egon’s stepfather’s caller book, Un Matrimonio Mantovano. The Von Fürstenbergs spell to El Morocco astatine slightest erstwhile a week, though Egon admits “the euphony is bad, the nutrient is awful” and, of course, “it’s boring.” During the precocious mistletoe play successful New York, they received 4 invitations a night, mostly from radical they’d ne'er heard of. Then determination is the flat successful Paris, the location successful Sardinia, not to notation summers connected Fire Island and Ischia. “Maybe we unrecorded a superficial life,” Diane said, “but successful 7 days I spot much radical than anyone. At slightest I’ll cognize who to intensify with.”

Egon’s father, Prince Tassilo, visited them from his location successful Vienna for Christmas. At 71, Tassilo, separated 18 years from Clara Agnelli (now yet divorced), reminisces astir the clip erstwhile princes were princes and erstwhile the Von Fürstenberg humor was pure. “This is the archetypal clip successful 9 centuries that we person Jewish blood.” helium says, referring to Diane, whose Belgian parent and Russian begetter are Jewish. “But Jews are clever and shrewd and the small lad volition request that.” He shook his head. “I came to their wedding but not to the reception. Eddie [Egon] understood. He sent a miss to my room.”

Downstairs successful the children’s apartment, nether a representation by Richard Hird, Diane reads to the small Prince and Princess. Although they were calved here, the children baby-talk successful Italian, the connection of their nanny. Diane and Egon talk to each different successful French, the connection they “met in” arsenic students astatine the University of Geneva. And upstairs, the housekeeper is dealt with successful Spanish. Alexandre is being eased into English present successful day classes astatine the International Play Group. The nanny disapproves, however, truthful Diane indispensable spell uptown each time to instrumentality him to school.

Egon is not successful the slightest self-conscious. “You conscionable unrecorded once,” helium says, “and I americium getting the astir retired of it. After a while, passion—you know—cools. So a small here, a small determination astatine 3 successful the afternoon. What harm?” Egon admits that were helium to conscionable an charismatic man, helium would not beryllium loath to experiment. But Diane is not truthful sure. “Homosexuality is simply a benignant of narcissism,” she says. “It’s similar making emotion successful beforehand of a mirror. It’s a large bore. Besides, what is the constituent of being a pistillate if you person to driblet yourself 2 stages to enactment similar a man? Butch dykes upset me. A pretty, charismatic woman? That’s different.” “Once successful Paris we tried it with different woman,” Egon said. “There were 3 of us. But you cognize what?” He shrugged. “It was conscionable doubly arsenic overmuch enactment for me.”

As it turned out, she went adjacent bigger: In 1976, a Newsweek cover communicative made her into a nationalist figure.