Designer Diane von Furstenberg: Viagra 'worst thing to happen to women'

The 71-year-old said it is unfair that men have a drug to turn to when they are struggling to perform sexually, when women don't. Photo / Getty Images

It may be designed to solve problems in the bedroom – but Viagra is the worst thing that has happened to women in years, according to fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg.

The 71-year-old, credited with inventing the wrap dress, said it is unfair that men now have a drug to turn to when they are struggling to perform sexually, while women have nothing.

Diane Von Furstenburg. Photo / Getty Images

The American designer, whose net worth was more than £200million ($384million) last year, said: "The worst thing that has happened to women in the last 15 years is Viagra. For men it used to be all about getting it up. 'Did I? Can I?' There was a certain amount of fairness. A woman couldn't have a child after 40, right? Though even that doesn't exist any more. But the man could have a child until 65, but sexually, after a while?…"

In an interview with The Times, Miss von Furstenberg, who is married to US businessman Barry Diller, 76, said she has embraced her age.

"Age means you have lived. I am 71, but I should be 140 I have lived so fully," she said. The designer, who launched her eponymous label in 1972, added that she finds today's attitudes to ageing "humiliating", adding: "Even young girls doing things to their faces. Not wanting to say how old they are when they are 32. Age is ... you should embrace it."

Viagra was developed in 1985, and this year the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency allowed a formulation named Viagra Connect to be sold in pharmacies without prescription. Over-18s can buy an unlimited number of pills, subject to a pharmacist consultation.