Diane von Furstenberg is celebrating 50 years with her longtime husband, Barry Diller, after he came out earlier this year.
Von Furstenberg, 78, shared a series of throwback pics of her and Diller, 83, in an Instagram post on Saturday, October 25, and wrote alongside the carousel, “Today is the 50th anniversary of the BIG BANG!!! The day Barry and I fell in love! He opened the door of his heart and never closed it!”
“The first day of a long, colorful, happy journey …. UNCONDITIONAL LOVE ❤️❤️❤️ thank you BD ❤️👍🙏,” the fashion designer continued.
Von Furstenberg and the media mogul have been married since 2001, however, their relationship dates back over five decades, following von Furstenberg’s first marriage to Prince Egon von Fürstenberg. (They were married from 1969 to 1983. Egon died in 2004 at age 57.)
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Earlier this year, Diller opened up about his relationship with the fashion designer, and his sexuality, in his memoir, Who Knew, an excerpt of which was published by New York Magazine in May.
Diller wrote that “there are many complex aspects of my relationship” with von Furstenberg.
“We met in 1974, separated in 1981, reunited in 1991, married in 2001, and have spent 50 years intertwined with each other in a unique and complete love,” he wrote.
“I have never questioned my sexuality’s basic authority over my life (I was only afraid of the reaction of others),” he continued. “And when my romance with Diane began, I never questioned that its biological imperative was as strong in its heterosexuality as its opposite had been. When it happened, my initial response was, ‘Who knew?’”
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Diller said his relationship with von Furstenberg “began with indifference,” before turning “into a romance as natural to us as breathing.”
“Even though as the years went on, I began to be realistic and understood that ‘everyone knows,’ I never wanted to make any declarations,” he wrote. “Of course I could have declared my sexuality, come out as some others were doing, but I was among the many at that time who were too scared to do so.”
“We weren’t just friends. We aren’t just friends. Plain and simple, it was an explosion of passion that kept up for years,” he added. “And, yes, I also liked guys, but that was not a conflict with my love for Diane. I can’t explain it to myself or to the world.”
Earlier this month, von Furstenberg addressed her husband’s coming out in an interview with Variety.
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“What’s the difference? I don’t understand,” she responded when asked about being a “woman married to a man who’s gay.”
“It doesn’t change anything. I’m sorry — it’s a stupid question. I married two gay men, OK? I don’t know why, but to me, they’re not gay, so it doesn’t make any difference,” she added. (Von Furstenberg’s first husband identified as bisexual.)
In the same interview, von Furstenberg described how she first met Diller at a party in 1974.
“He turned out to be my soulmate. I didn’t think of it at first. He was a man about town. I was giving a party for Sue Mengers, and he came,” she said. “I was interested in being a good friend; I never thought it would be anything else. Then it turned to passion. He was very insistent.”
