Wrap dress turns 40 with flair

LOS ANGELES - Diane von Furstenberg’s wrap-dress army is a force to be reckoned with in the 20,000-square-foot gallery of the historic May Co. department store building where her “Journey of a Dress” exhibition showcases vintage and contemporary interpretations of the iconic design.

There they are, 200 mannequins strong, standing in formation and looking ready to conquer the world.

Conquer the world is exactly what this dress did.

The show, which was put together for the 40th anniversary of von Furstenberg’s brand, celebrates her singular contribution to fashion history: the wrap dress, which is on par with the T-shirt and blue jeans when it comes to cultural impact.

The dress - which wraps in front and ties at the waist and was originally made in drip-dry, cotton jersey - became part of the zeitgeist of the 1970s, when women started to enter the work force en masse,a symbol not only of women’s liberation but of sexual liberation too. “A woman could be dressed in two minutes flat and be undressed in even less time,” fashion historian Holly Brubach writes in the show’s introduction.

“It’s the dress that gave me my freedom, paid all my bills, gave me my fame and allowed me to be free,” Diane von Furstenberg, 67, says during a recent walk-through of the exhibit, wearing a dress from her spring collection.

“And it empowered millions of women,” she says. “When I heard it’s studied in sociology classes, I realized this dress deserves to be honored. I had never honored it. I was grateful, but I took it for granted. Sometimes I even resented it, because I thought, ‘I do other things!’ But this year, when everyone was telling me to do something for the anniversary, I said, ‘OK. Now is the moment to honor it.’”

Style, Pages 25 on 02/18/2014

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