Vreeland, Diana

Vreeland, Diana (Diana Dalziel), 1906–89, American fashion editor and consultant, b. Paris. In 1937, she joined Harper's Bazaar, becoming fashion editor in 1939. In 1963, she moved to Vogue magazine, where she was editor in chief from the mid-1960s until 1971. As editor of the two leading fashion magazines, she had considerable influence on fashion and on the success of particular designers and models. In 1971, she became a consultant to the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. During her tenure, the museum held exhibitions on the work of Cristóbal Balenciaga and treated such themes as "American Women of Style," "The Glory of Russian Costume," and "Man and the Horse." The openings to each exhibition became a major social event in the fashion world.

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Vreeland, Diana (Dalziel) (c. 1901–89) fashion journalist; born in Paris, France. The daughter of wealthy parents, she moved to New York as a teenager. She dispensed extravagant advice to snobs in her famous "Why Don't You…" in Harper's Bazaar (1936); as fashion editor of Harper's (1937–62), she became "the high priestess of style," a trend-setter who coined the term "beautiful people" and cultivated her reputation for wit. She was editor in chief of Vogue (1962–71) and, after her retirement, mounted major annual fashion exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum, New York.