Diane von Furstenberg Hosted a Downtown Power Lunch for Women Entrepreneurs

“2020 is the year of the woman,” Diane von Furstenberg proclaimed in the opening remarks of her fashion week luncheon. “It’s the 100th year of [women having] the vote, and I think, hopefully, it could be the century of the woman. It’s really important for us to take charge,” she said.

Anyone who has spent time with von Furstenberg knows that nobody commands a room quite like she does. But on the occasion of her Fashion Week power lunch, hosted at her downtown studio, von Furstenberg took the opportunity to pass the mic to the other accomplished women in attendance. Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington, Rent the Runway’s Jennifer Hyman, LinkedIn’s Catherine Fisher, and Gloria Steinem were each recognized by the designer and asked to impart some of their wisdom to the room full of innovators and entrepreneurs.

Attendees mingled over flutes of Veuve Clicquot's La Grande Dame Champagne and lime-seltzer spritzers before taking their seats at the picturesque tablescapes. Over a (mostly) plant-based meal of beet lasagne, crudités, and salmon fillets, von Furstenberg greeted attendees. Celebrated architect Elizabeth Diller, Brooklyn Museum director Anne Pasternak, and Sakara Life founders Whitney Tingle and Danielle Duboise were just a few of the guests who stepped out for the occasion.

After Steinem’s invigorating address about the importance of coming together as women, von Furstenberg shared that she was so inspired by Steinem’s advocacy that she dropped her own royal title of “princess” in favor of Steinem’s hard-won “Ms.”

Von Furstenberg later told Vogue that she got the idea to assemble such an all-star crew of entrepreneurs while she was summering abroad. “It came to me while I was away! It just happened like that. It wasn’t planned.”

If there’s one thing we’ll always toast to, it’s building out our networks with spectacular, fearless leaders.