NEW YORK, September 17, 2002 – Diane Von Furstenberg got her start as a working woman's designer. Granted, with her aristocratic European pedigree, she wasn't exactly punching a clock. But those just-feminine-enough jersey wrap dresses were a godsend for fashionable career women fed up with the rules of Dress for Success.

Thirty years later, DvF--now with the help of creative director Nathan Jenden--is outfitting a new generation, for whom things have loosened up a bit. Her career-minded customer still wants work-friendly clothes, but she wants them to have some spirit, too. And she'd also like a couple of sexy party dresses or a silky, skin-baring blouse for her equally hectic after-hours activities. Von Furstenberg, intent on keeping her loyal customers satisfied, aims to meet all those needs and then some with her expanding collection. This season, she dropped some of the eccentric cuts and brash color schemes of her fall show, softened her silhouettes and mixed in plenty of pretty prints and floaty chiffons. The line ran from sweet, sheer bias-cut dance dresses to sexy, tight pinstripe suits and sporty denim pieces.

It was a lot to take in—but then again, women's lives have gotten a lot busier over the last three decades. And if there were any doubts about DVF's appeal to the modern working woman, the hearty applause from her power-heavy front row—Diane Sawyer, Ellen Barkin, Julianne Moore, Candace Bushnell, Natasha Richardson, Bianca Jagger—should lay them to rest. Right next to the shoulder pads.

– Janet Ozzard