Diana Vreeland: Legendary Style Icon
By Sarah Stefanson February 15, 2010
Photo: Harper's Bazaar
As a style icon, Diana Vreeland has an incredible influence on the fashion industry for 50 years. She had an impressive resume including Fashion Editor at Harper’s Bazaar, Editor-in-Chief at Vogue and a position creating exhibits for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. Vreeland was known for her impeccable style, irrepressible wit and vast creativity. In many ways she was the ultimate fashion diva.
DV, as Vreeland was often called, was born in Paris to an American socialite mother and a British father and raised in New York City. As a girl she studied ballet, which became the most important thing in the world to her at the time and greatly influenced her view that movement was an important aspect of style.
She married a banker named Thomas Reed Vreeland in 1924 and the couple had two children. They raised their children in Albany, New York, until 1929 when they moved to London. The Reed Vreelands were not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but they were socially well connected and able to portray a well-to-do image. DV became so well recognized for her flawless fashion sense that French fashion design houses began outfitting her for free just so their creations would be seen on her. During this time of her life, Vreeland counted Coco Chanel and The Duke and Duchess of Windsor among her friends.
The Reed Vreeland family returned to America in 1937 and lived in New York for the rest of their lives. Carmel Snow, then editor of Harper’s Bazaar, saw something special in Vreeland and soon offered her the Fashion Editor position at the magazine. During her time with the publication, Vreeland shook up the world of fashion journalism and changed the way the public viewed fashion magazines. Instead of simply reporting on existing trends, magazines would now have a considerable influence on what would become popular. Vreeland wrote a column for Harper’s Bazaar called “Why Don’t You?” in which she offered suggestions, assumed to be tongue-in-cheek, to her readers on ways to become glamourous and fashionable. Examples include proposing that women wash their children’s hair in champagne and own “12 diamond roses of all sizes.”
Due to her powerful influence over the world of style, Vreeland became friends with many famous figures and catapulted unknowns to stardom by association. She discovered now world famous models including Lauren Hutton, who appeared on the cover of Vogue 25 times, and Iman. She got involved in the “youthquake” movement during the sixties and became close with Andy Warhol and many members of his entourage. President Kennedy and his wife famously took advice from Vreeland on their wardrobes, including their inaugural ball outfits.
Her cultural presence has also been felt in the movies. The main characters in the 1957 movie, Funny Face, are said to have been modelled after Vreeland and Harper’s Bazaar photographer, Richard Avedon. In 2006, Vreeland was portrayed by Juliet Stevenson in Infamous and by Ileana Douglas in Factory Girl.
Vreeland moved on from Harper’s Bazaar in 1963 and took the Editor-in-Chief position at Vogue where she stayed until 1971 and applied her trademark creative enthusiasm to the pages of Vogue.
Personal tragedy struck when Vreeland’s beloved husband developed esophageal cancer and died in 1966. Vreeland, then 67, was devastated by his passing. Though there were frequently rumours of tension in their marriage due to extramarital affairs, Thomas Reed Vreeland remained the love of her life. After his death, Vreeland called on many young men to escort her to parties and events, but never again had a serious romantic relationship.
Vreeland was fired from Vogue in 1971 for reasons that have never been definitively confirmed. Some say it was because her editorial photo shoots were wildly expensive, while others claim that Si Newhouse, owner of Vogue, thought she was losing touch with modern times.
Now alone and in desperate need of money, since she was used to spending beyond her means, Vreeland began working for the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute as a consultant in 1972. From 1973 to 1989, she organized a series of popular exhibitions, including “The World of Balenciaga” (1973), “Romantic and Glamorous Hollywood Design” (1974), “The Glory of Russian Costume” (1976) and “Vanity Fair: A Treasure Trove of the Costume Institute” (1977).
In the 1980s, Vreeland had to restrict her work at the Costume Institute due to her failing health. She had developed emphysema and slowly grew weaker until her death at the age of 86 in 1989. She has left behind a lasting impact on the world of fashion journalism and will forever be known as a style diva.
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Submitted on February 15, 2010 in Who's Who.
Sarah is our Western Canadian correspondent. She recently left a long-standing position as editor and writer for TheSoko.com, DriverSense.com & LiveDress.com to focus on book and novel writing. Sarah continues contribute weekly articles to AskMen.ca and Models & Moguls. Sarah thinks she might have been a model if it weren’t for the blessing of Slavic hips and thighs.
Sarah Stefanson has contributed 64 articles to Models & Moguls.
