Diane von Furstenberg's New Target Collaboration Is Almost Here and the Icon Says, 'It Screams DVF'

When Target revealed in February that it's next designer collaboration would be with legendary fashion designer and philanthropist Diane von Furstenberg, we immediately sent a calendar invite around the office for the collection's March 23 launch date.

And after getting a sneak peek of the 200-piece assortment of women's, girl's and baby apparel, plus accessories, beauty, home decor and even made-to-order furniture, all featuring the brand’s signature colorful prints and patterns, we are upgrading that calendar invite to a middle of the night alarm because the merch is that good. We're talking an adorable $50 wrap dress that looks and feels exactly like the real deal, good.

“It’s very happy, it’s very fresh,” DVF, 77, told a room of fashion editors at the early preview of the collection in N.Y.C. on Tuesday. “It screams ‘DVF.’ You can’t absolutely deny what name is behind it.”

DVF revealed that while she and the Target team have been discussing a collaboration for years (she's been a fan of the retailer's designer collections since the first one with architect Michael Graves in 1999), it was her granddaughter, DVF co-chairwoman Talita von Furstenberg, 24, who brought the partnership to life.

“Talita actually led this whole program. It’s really, really cute,” she said at the event. “They went into the archives and they pulled prints and shrank them and made them bigger and changed the colors and created a whole world that goes from the kitchen to the bathroom, then activewear, women’s and children.” (DVF is particularly excited about the shower curtain.)

PEOPLE caught up with DVF and TVF while they took us through the collection (see some of our favorites below!). Here’s what they had to say about working together, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the wrap dress and defining success. 

What do you think Talita has learned from working with you?

DVF: Well, the one thing you have to make sure is that you don't act like you're teaching. You can only teach by example. Then they look at you and they do it.

And what have you learned from her?

DVF: That's a good question. Yesterday she was very helpful. There has just been a documentary that was made by me. [Editor’s note: the Hulu documentary drops later this year] and she watched it this weekend. I was asking her what they included, because they've been filming and interviewing so many people over the last two years. 

TVF: I wanted to make sure they captured the essence of her spirit today, which is really helping people and connecting people. She’ll connect two people and then all of a sudden they've started a Fortune 500 company, or she's connected two people and they've saved an organization. The list goes on and on. I wanted to make sure that they got that spirit.

The wrap dress is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and it's still the go-to for women during some of their biggest life moments, whether it's an interview or a date. What makes it the perfect "milestone" piece?

DVF: First of all, the fabric is really soft and really wonderful, and it lasts forever. And then, the trick with my prints is the movement. All the prints have a movement. In nature, any animal, a zebra, a leopard, a fish, or anything in nature, when you see the pattern, it's always a movement. And when you put a dress that ties to your body and you add this movement, it makes you look good and it makes you feel feline. A woman once said something, which is the perfect thing, she said, "It's the dress you get a man in and his mother doesn't mind."

TVF: I think it's also the effortless sexiness. They're so comfortable. And it's so easy that when you grab it from your closet, you know you look good. It just feels very empowering. And when you're having these special moments, the most important thing is feeling confident and feeling happy with yourself.

You created the dress when you were 27. If you could go back in time, what would you tell your 27-year-old self?

DVF: [That] I lived. When I was 27, I was a single mother with two kids. I had a huge business and I had no idea what I was doing. I was inventing it every day. And so, how I juggled it, I don't know. And I probably was not the best this and the best that. I was not the best at anything. But somehow I juggled up. And when I look back and I see my family, my children, my grandchildren, I say, "Well, I did a good job."

How do you define success at this point in your career? 

DVF: Success is being true to yourself. You have highs, you have lows, you have this, you have that. But to be true to yourself is freedom.