Diane von Furstenberg was born Diane Simone Michelle Halfin in Brussels. She attended boarding schools in Lausanne, Switzerland, and Oxford, England, and studied economics at the University of Geneva.
While in Geneva she met Austro-Italian Prince Egon zu Fürstenberg, and they married in 1969. Following their wedding, the couple moved to New York City, where they became known as members of the international jet set. In subsequent decades she split her time between the United States and Europe.