Diane Von Furstenberg Celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the Wrap Dress

On Friday, Diane Von Furstenberg celebrated the opening of "Journey of a Dress," an exhibit honoring the timeless style she introduced in the early 1970s, the wrap dress. The wrap dress is a flattering, easy-to-wear dress that fastens with a simple tie at the waist.

"This is the first time that I ever honored the wrap dress, and she did so much for me," said an ebullient Von Furstenberg, wearing a black wrap dress with floor-skimming yellow kimono sleeves. "She made me famous. She paid for all my bills. And tonight we celebrate the wrap dress."

The exhibit is on view at the Wilshire May Company Building until April 1 It features the designer's favorite dresses from throughout the decades. Scores of mannequins stand in neat rows, their narrow waists all belted, each in different versions of the wrap dress.

Part of "Journey of a Dress" is dedicated to the designer herself. Paintings and portraits of Von Furstenberg by artists including Andy Warhol and Annie Leibovitz fill one room of the exhibit. The hallway is lined with oversized reproductions of the DVF wrap dress in the pages of 1970s Vogue magazine and on models and movie stars then and now. Rene Russo, Jerry Hall and Iman wore them in the '70s, as did Cybill Shepherd in "Taxi Driver" in 1976. Michelle Obama and Madonna wore them recently.