We were lucky to catch up with Diane Gilman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Diane, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I always, from the time I was a toddler, was obsessed with fashion and knew I wanted to be a part of it. However, I had no support from my family, they only created obstacles. And I had to make a choice between my family or my career. And I went for my career, in a time when women didn’t do that. I got into the fashion industry by happenstance, by opening a boutique with a friend of mine from UCLA, Rosanna Norton. We sewed all the dresses for the boutique ourselves. And one day we had Cher walk in and buy out the entire store! And that started me out with my entrance to music industry. I began hand-painting, patching, jeweling, and altering denim for Rock’n’Roll stars.

At a certain point, I wanted to take my talents professional, and the BIGGET risk of my life, because I had never been out of California, was when I took my savings and bought a ticket to NYC to try to convince someone in industry that I was truly talented and to give me a chance. And guess what? No one would!
Through working as a salesgirl at Bloomingdale’s I got my foot in door, was discovered, had my first big selling hit, and became known slowly but surely in the industry as a money maker.
Then I took another risk. I partnered with some very powerful businessmen- both from NYC and Hong Kong. After my brand “The Diane Gilman Collection” was making money, and I wasn’t, I felt as though I wasn’t being paid fairly. Then I took the biggest risk of my life, and I sued them. That turned out to be my most painful risk. My own name was tied up in legal cases and left me in a terrible position for years. Then I got a call out of the clear, blue sky from QVC- saying, “We want you to come on television”. I explained that I wasn’t able to use my name and they, “that’s ok, we’ll just call you Diane”. Sometimes really high-stakes risk, look impossible, but this opportunity gave me the ability to marry television to fashion and it became the best of all possible worlds for me professionally.
My next big risk was trying to introduce a new jean to the fashion industry. One that was based on the middle-aged, female body proportion. But no one else wanted to take that risk. So I did it alone, on my own. And that set the trajectory for my career for the rest of my life. That was the best and the scariest risk I ever took.
Oh! But I’ve got one more– after 30 years on tele-retail, as the #1 fashion personality on QVC/HSN, and one of the top tier earners for tele-retail sales, I decided to take possibly the biggest risk of my life- Say goodbye to the audience and fashion. And try to hone my communication skills and go modern, on social media and YouTube to become a silver-hair influencer promoting everything 50+. It has barely been a year, and with our podcast “Too Young To Be Old” (also the title of my 2nd book, published Nov 2022) we’re already in the top 10 in podcasts for women over 50 (Feedspot), and climbing in successful podcast participation every week.
So risk taking is obviously in my blood. And I have to say this latest risk, of leaving what was totally familar, and testing my untested skills, has to be one of the biggest thrills of my career.

Diane, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

A serial entrepreneur and fashion rule-breaker, I started my love affair with fashion in the 1960’s when I opened a store in LA across from Canter’s deli called “I’m a hog for you baby”. I then went on to hand-paint, patch, embroider, and bejewel jeans for Rock’n’Roll icons such as Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Grace Slick and Jimi Hendrix.

After moving to New York to fully commit to a career in fashion, a chance encounter while working in Bloomingdale’s led to the start of my brand of the first-ever line of washable silk garments called the “Diane Gilman Collection”. Shortly followed by “Diane Gilman for CABAL” which was distributed to every major department store and boutique nationwide.

However, not unlike many women’s stories, recognition came later in life with the launch of my DG2 Jeans line on the Home Shopping Network. DG2 by Diane Gilman became the top tele-retailing brand globally, making over $100 million dollars a year in retail sales domestically, and could be seen on QVC UK, Italy, France, Australia & Canada. I’ve been named TV’s “Queen of Jeans,” and at 78 years young, I am embracing aging instead of fighting it. It is my goal to be an inspiration for women embracing their third act, which I elaborated on in my second, and latest book, “Too Young to be Old”. The book, written while I went through chemo and radiation treatment and recovery for stage 3 breast cancer, is a compelling take on conquering life’s challenges and harnessing one’s own power to live a “third act” filled with dream-catching and fulfillment.

After 30 years of experience in front of the camera connecting with the baby boomer audience on television, I’ve moved on from TV and set new goals on becoming a proaging advocate and a “Silver-haired Influencer”. Through social media, YouTube and the launch of my podcast, Too Young To Be Old, my goal is to educate and inspire the 50+ community in a range of lifestyle topics such as nutrition, health & wellness, fashion, beauty & skincare, and any other topics covering aging solutions.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Being able to service the audience I built on HSN, with a better way to live through a jean that was measured and dedicated just for their middle-aged body. I gave them a product that made them feel so much better about aging, that it created a sisterhood of 750,000 happy women wearing denim again. I don’t think, when I look back on being obsessed with fashion (starting at the age of 3), that I ever thought I would create this community of grateful women, that I have made happier about themselves. I achieved a goal I didn’t even know was available to me.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

At the height of my career, I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. Having to go in front of my audience on TV and bid them farewell for a year, while I took on a second job- which was saving my life. The pressure to return to TV was enormous. So, I was actually back, live on-air, in 9 months, with not the most comfortable body, and virtually no hair. But I did it!
And the day I came back, we made record sales, selling 225,000 jeans in 1 day on air. WOW!

Contact Info:

• Website: thedianegilman.com
• Instagram: @thedianegilman
• Facebook: @thedianegilman
• Youtube: @thedianegilman
• Other: Tiktok- @dianegilman4