About Diane

Charismatic, pearl-haired “Queen of Jeans,” Diane Gilman, is 77 years young and celebrating her success in fashion and in life. An inspiration for women embracing their third act, Diane is a tele-retailing legend who’s just getting started. In 2020, she channeled her trademark positivity and intuition to sell $100 million worth of blue jeans to mature women who are eager for fashions that flatter. $100 million dollars worth of jeans in a year. On television. At age 74.

A fashion rule-breaker with millions of loyal fans, Diane’s DG2 jeans breakthrough came at the age of 60. Certain there was an unmet need for jeans crafted specifically for middle-aged bodies, Diane used her own measurements to design a sexy and fashionable new line for Baby Boomers she called DG2. In a matter of minutes working her charms on HSN, she’d sold 5,000 pairs and her career catapulted. Diane’s DG2 jeans became the top tele-retailing brand globally, just as she was defying Stage 3 breast cancer – running between HSN and radiation treatments with her indomitable spirit intact.

In her 60s, Diane also wrote “Good Jeans,” an autobiographical, self-help book for women with advice on aging joyfully and productively. The success of her jeans empire – 19 million pairs of DG2 jeans sold since 2008 – served as inspiration for women everywhere who were just hitting their stride.

Diane’s fortures came through overcoming hurdles. Her own family tried to squelch her passion for fashion with efforts to block her entry into the field. Undaunted, she painted, embroidered and be-jeweled jeans for rock icons Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, Jim Morrison and Jimmy Hendrix in the mid-’60s, while still a student at UCLA Diane then went on to move to New York and design the first-ever line of washable silk garments called the “Diane Gilman Collection”. Shortly followed by her “Diane Gilman for CABAL” label, which soon got distribution to every major department store and boutiques nationwide. It was in 1994 that QVC invited Diane to sell her silk line on TV, igniting her tele-retailing success story.

Not unlike many women’s stories, recognition for Diane came later in life. HSN’s longest-running and most successful fashion personality received the ‘Women in Power’ Award from The National Council of Jewish Women in Palm Beach in 2019. That same year, she was featured on NBC’s “Know Your Power,” Mika Brzezinski’s program recognizing women 50+ who achieve their greatest success in later years. And at the age of 76, she’s a deserving nominee for Designer Brand of the Year for QVC/HSN and Canadian channel TSC.

Her latest book “Too Young to be Old,” 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. With raw candor and humor, Diane reveals how she turned personal heartbreak into trailblazing success, and how her struggle with breast cancer became her bridge to understanding the true meaning of living your life to the fullest.

Today, at the age of 77 and after 30 years of experience in front of the camera connecting with the baby boomer audience on television, Diane’s goal is to build a deeper connection with a broader range of topics for the 55+ woman. Among her quest to become a grey-haired influencer on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook—Diane has now launched a YouTube channel which hosts her podcast “Aging with Grace 55+: Diane Gilman!” with co-host A. Dale Josey. The goal of this podcast and the YouTube channel is to educate and inspire the 55+ community in a multitude of lifestyle topics such as nutrition, health & wellness, fashion, beauty & skincare, and any other topics covering aging solutions.

Today is the youngest you will ever be. Make the most of it.

— words Diane lives by