The Huntress
How Dian von Furstenberg became the DVF woman.

By Larissa MacFarquhar

A remarkable creature appeared in the doorway- a very tanned woman with very long, very blonde hair wearing black satin hot pants, a very low-cut-V-neck shirt, and a diamond=encrusted pendant in the shape of a heart. She recognized vonFurstenberg immediately and beamed at her and Louboutin.

"My two favorite designers!" she cried. " I feel like I've walked into heaven!"

She explained that she was Kimberly Landau, proprietor of the CoCo Pari stores in Red Bank and Deal, New Jersey.

"Oh, Deal- with all the Sephardic Jews", von Furstenberg said dryly.

"We do phenomenal with your line," Landau told her. "Phenomenal".

"I like your shorts" von Furstenberg said, slouching back lazily on the sofa in her trousers and scrutinizing the tiny garment, which at first appeared to be a miniskirt. "When you walked in, I thought, don't walk on your skirt".

"My skirt?" Landau asked, confused, looking down at her legs."It's a joke".

© The New Yorker. Excerpted and Re-printed with permission.