In Washington, D.C., Diane von Furstenberg Receives The Ruth Bader Ginsburg Woman of Leadership Award

With its gilded hallways, labyrinth of wood-paneled studies, and soaring central reading room, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. is home to a total of 171,636,507 items, all catalogued with care for the bookish masses, but on Friday evening, library rules were broken as an after-hours celebration unfolded in the name of Diane von Furstenberg. Fresh from a women’s leadership gathering in Los Angeles, the designer was on hand to accept the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Woman of Leadership Award, celebrating the legacy of the late Supreme Court justice and her fellow leading women who continue to challenge the status quo. Previous recipients have included Agnes Gund and Queen Elizabeth II. 

“I hope I deserve it,” joked von Furstenberg as we sat in a holding room, as well-wishers swirled around us. “I hope I can carry her flame.” It was in this same room, on the occasion of the 11th Annual DvF Awards, that von Furstenberg and Ginsburg had their final meeting. “She was very fragile that night, but she proudly showed up,” she recalled. “After the ceremony, I sat with her, holding her tiny, but strong hand. We didn’t need to speak. We had a very strong connection.” 

The evening’s award was presented to von Furstenberg during a ceremony in the library’s Coolidge Auditorium, surrounded by rows of American flags and a coterie of friends and admirers who had made the trip to the nation’s capital for the occasion. They included Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sylvester & Jennifer Stallone, Wendi Deng Murdoch, Caryn Zucker, Nicky Hilton-Rothschild, and Superwoman herself, Lynda Carter Altman. “When you look at these women and what they’ve accomplished, you feel humbled,” she told Vogue, before hilariously abandoning her Jimmy Choo heels and enjoying the evening barefoot in her Louis Vuitton gown. “I feel excited, and I want to sit down with each of them and hear about their journey because it’s all about the journey.” 

The evening continued into the library’s frescoed mezzanine, which had been reimagined with bursts of towering pink floral arrangements and gold-tipped charger plates set atop white brocade tablecloths. It was here that those who had traveled in the wake of von Furstenberg from all corners of the globe had the chance to rub elbows with Washington’s political change-makers like Senator Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Chinese Ambassador to the United States, Qin Gang, and 14th Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden. It’s also where partygoers reminisced on their early memories of this vaunted venue. “I first came here on a school trip when I was 17 years old,” Stewart recalled with a laugh. “We drove down in Doreen Sawyer’s 1959 red Cadillac convertible with white leather interior, and we drove all the way from New Jersey to Washington, D.C. with the top down. We were very naughty and noisy and did the whole Washington tour. We all had our list of things to see, and this was at the top of mine. This library is indicative of what America should be, a beautiful and intellectual and interesting place.”