There are many reasons to worship at the altar of Diane von Furstenberg, but here are the top 5 reasons to keep the faith:

1. Her spiffy flagship—with its sharp glass angles and impressive, 1-block circumference—gives the Meatpacking district back some gravitas. Next year she’ll put the final touches on a theater and gallery space which (hopefully means) some DvF films are in the near future.

2. Her sample sale is still on & going strong.

3. Immediately following a 24+hour journey from Shanghai (where she picked up an award for Best International Designer during the city’s fashion week) to Beijing and back to New York, the designer generously hosted 50+ American Express Centurion and Platinum members in her spacious studio. The intimate event—one of many those lucky Amex VIPS are privy to—featured an animated conversation between Instyle‘s Hal Rubenstein and the Wrap Dress Doyenne herself, who in true jet-setter form, looked nothing short of spectacular even after the grueling trip.

4. She sprinkled these oh-so-quotable anecdotes throughout her informal mini-speech:

“The Meat Pack district was bad a few years ago, filled with lots of butchers—of every kind. Now it’s supposed to be the hip neighborhood and we have buses full of Japanese tourists that drive around and point to us, ‘That’s where Diane von Furstenberg is!‘”

“Growing up, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew what I wanted to be: I wanted to be the woman in the driver’s seat. That didn’t mean that I couldn’t be a passenger some days, or have a driver another, but I knew that I wanted to be the woman who could drive the car. I knew the feeling but not how I was going to get there.”

“I realized at some point that I would be better off if I were my best friend. That’s not to say that I wasn’t ever insecure, or that I didn’t have other important relationships, but I knew that always believing in oneself would be of great help.”

“Women are all the same. People always ask me what the difference is between American and European women is, and I tell them that they’re all the same. They want the same thing, they think the same things…The one big secret is that we can all give life and we all have to deal with men.” (The statement was followed by a boisterous round of applause from the predominantly female audience.)

5. Now over 30 years strong in the fashion industry, von Furstenberg enjoys a loyal following few can compete with; Guests at last night’s talk came from as far away as Texas and California to hear shake DvF’s hand and hear her words of wisdom. Now if that kind of dedication isn’t enough to inspire devotion, I’m not sure what will.