一位設計師女強人的自白大綱

Diane von Furstenberg’s life combines the hallmarks of a fairy tale with the more sober reality of a career woman – and single mother – who longs to have it all.

戴安娜•馮•弗斯滕伯格的人生既包含童話故事的元素，又包含想要兼顧一切的事業女性兼單身母親面對的生活現實。

Her new autobiography, The Woman I Wanted To Be, charts the highs and lows of the young European princess turned American fashion designer. It recounts the growth of her business from just a suitcase of samples – when she arrived in New York in the 1970s – to a multimillion-dollar powerhouse. All this was down to a game-changing invention: the wrap dress.

馮•弗斯滕伯格的新自傳《我曾經想成爲的那個女人》描述了她一生的起起伏伏，曾經的年輕歐洲王妃後來如何搖身一變成爲美國時尚設計師。自傳講述了她的生意是如何發展起來的，上世紀70年代，她來到紐約，從拎着樣品箱跑業務開始做起，最終經營起一家數百萬美元的企業。這一切都源於一項革命性的發明：裹裙（wrap dress，V領前蓋式連衣裙——譯者注）。

As she tells the tale, she underlines the importance of financial and emotional independence, highlighting the fateful mistake she made when she licensed her name – and ceded millions of dollars – to others.

在敘述人生故事的過程中，她強調保持財務和情感獨立的重要性，着重講述了她犯下的一個重大錯誤——授權別人使用自己的名字，結果將數百萬美元拱手讓人。

The book is as charming and erratic as Von Furstenberg herself. Confusingly, the chapters are only partially chronological. Von Furstenberg arranges her memoirs by inspirations: family, love, beauty and the business of fashion. This haphazard structure is one of the book’s main flaws. The narrative is disjointed, making the author seem detached both from her own reality and that of the reader

這本自傳像戴安娜•馮•弗斯滕伯格本人一樣，富有魅力又變幻無常。書中的章節並不完全以時間爲序，讓人感覺有些混亂。馮•弗斯滕伯格的自傳是按照她的靈感源泉來安排的：家庭、愛情、美麗以及時尚事業。結構雜亂無章是該書的主要缺陷之一。敘事是散亂的，使得作者看上去跟她自己和讀者兩方面的生活現實都有點脫節。

The early pages paint a vivid picture of a privileged postwar childhood in Brussels, raised by loving parents, traumatised by their experiences in the Holocaust. Boarding school in England precedes university in Madrid before marriage to Prince Egon von Furstenberg and emigration, young and pregnant, to New York. At first the glamorous couple lead a dizzying jet-set life, whirling through Studio 54, Park Avenue parties and constantly criss-crossing the Atlantic.

該書最初的章節生動地描繪了她的童年，她出生於二戰後，童年在布魯塞爾度過，家境富足，經歷過猶太人大屠殺的父母對她寵愛有加。她曾就讀於英國的寄宿學校，後赴馬德里上大學，嫁給埃貢•馮•弗斯滕伯格王子(Prince Egon von Furstenberg)，夫婦倆在年紀輕輕的她已有身孕時移居紐約。一開始，這對金童玉女過着令人頭暈目眩的空中飛人生活，經常出入紐約54俱樂部(Studio 54)，參加公園大道的各種派對，不斷來往於歐洲和美國之間。

Ultimately, however, two young children and her husband’s wandering eye lead the twenty-something socialite to find a career path to independence.

然而，最終，撫養兩個年幼孩子的壓力，以及丈夫的風流性格，使得這位二十多歲的名媛走上獨立的事業女性之路。

Her account of those first years is colourful and poignant. “We grew up together . . . I was barely a grown-up myself,” she writes of her children as she juggled motherhood and her ambitions to be a “tycooness”. Von Furstenberg learns her trade the hard way, hustling department stores until a sprinkling of magic dust appears in the form of Diana Vreeland, editor of American Vogue. The fashion designer’s creation of the jersey wrap-dress in 1974 leads to sales of $100m through licensing deals and puts her on the cover of Newsweek.

她描述的早年歲月是豐富多彩和悽美的。那時，一面做母親、一面爲實現成爲“女大亨”的雄心而奮鬥的她分身乏術，提到孩子，她寫道，“我們一起長大……那時我自己也算不上什麼成年人”。馮•弗斯滕伯格歷經千辛萬苦才學會在時尚行業立足，她曾奔波於不同的百貨商場推銷自己的貨品，直到遇到人生中的貴人——美國《時尚》雜誌(Vogue)主編黛安娜•弗裏蘭(Diana Vreeland)。1974年，馮•弗斯滕伯格發明緊身裹裙，通過授權交易達到1億美元的銷售額，讓這位時尚設計師登上了《新聞週刊》(Newsweek)封面。

But she and her partners “behaved like amateurs on a runaway horse”, she says. “I didn’t even know what licensing meant,” she laments, as her empire finally crashes down. A boom-and-bust cycle haunts her 30-year career and its colourful ventures into cosmetics and home interiors.

但她說，自己和幾個合夥人“就像騎在一匹脫繮野馬身上的業餘騎手”，哀嘆道，“我甚至都不懂授權是什麼意思”，她的帝國最終崩塌。在30年的職業生涯裏，她嘗試過進軍化妝品和家居內飾，而這種盛衰週期也一次次輪迴。

At one point, her son Alexandre intervenes to demand that she “make a plan . . . stop haemorrhaging money or else pull the plug”. Her long-time partner – and now husband – Barry Diller, the US media billionaire, often appears to pick up the pieces.

她的兒子亞歷山大(Alexandre)曾出手干預，要求她“制定一個方案……止住錢嘩嘩往外流的局面，要麼就別幹了”。她的長期伴侶（如今是她的丈夫）、美國媒體億萬富翁巴里•迪勒(Barry Diller)常常出面收拾殘局。

For all her emphasis on the importance of standing on one’s own two feet, when things go wrong she seems unable to do so, repeatedly seeking the money and managerial savvy of men, be they lovers, sons or friends.

儘管她極力強調靠自己的重要性，但在出問題的時候，她似乎都無法做到這一點，一次又一次從身邊的男性（無論是她的愛人、兒子還是友人）那裏尋求資金和管理經驗方面的幫助。

Despite touting herself as an everywoman, her cosseted existence and dependence on industry titans make her trials far from universal.

儘管鼓吹自己是個平凡的女性，但她嬌生慣養的一生和對業內巨頭的依賴使得她的人生經歷不具有普遍意義。

The book does end on an upbeat note. The brand – which was wobbling again as little as two years ago – finally appears on track, steered by a team of feisty women. Who doesn’t love a happy ending?

這本自傳確實有個令人振奮的結尾。在一羣爭強好勝的女性領導下，短短兩年前再度陷入困境的DVF品牌終於走上了正軌。誰不喜歡大團圓結局呢？