It was the garment that captured the mood of 1970s women so dramatically that it landed the designer on the cover of Newsweek – and this year, Diane von Furstenberg's still-iconic wrap dress is 40 years old.

It began as an inspired combination of two of her previous designs: a shirt dress and a ballerina wrap. It was made of a soft jersey that the designer claimed 'made every woman look like a feline', and it became her trademark piece; five million wrap dresses were sold within two years. 

The fabric was certainly one of the dress's selling points, but a major part of its appeal was its association with von Furstenberg herself. Despite marrying Prince Eduard Egon von Furstenberg – heir to the Fiat automobile fortune – in her early twenties, she'd worked hard to build a business career of her own. She combined beauty and glamour with a liberated independence that captured the zeitgeist; Gloria Steinem, renowned New York feminist, was among those who wore her dress.

Other fans included Candice Bergen, Mary Tyler Moore, Betty Ford, Angela Davis, Cheryl Tiegs and Cybill Shepherd, who wore one in Taxi Driver in 1976. 'I would see 20, 30 dresses walking down one block,' von Furstenberg told New York magazine. 'All sorts of different women. It felt very good. Young and old, and fat and thin, and poor and rich.'

In the 1980s, the label's success waned and it was eventually sold. But after a 13-year hiatus, von Furstenberg relaunched in 1997 and found a new generation of fans for her wrap dress. Jade Jagger – von Furstenberg's goddaughter – Gwyneth Paltrow and Kylie Minogue all adopted the style and it quickly filtered through the high street, becoming a staple once again. Perhaps your mother had a wrap dress around the turn of millennium or perhaps you had one. Kate Hudson wore a red-carpet version in 2006 and Michelle Obama is a longterm fan – she's worn the style for the White House's 2009 Christmas card and for numerous political engagements.

Today, it's hard to think of another dress shape that is so firmly associated with a single designer. When Amy Adams appeared in this year's American Hustle in a series of vintage wrap dresses, they were immediately recognisable as von Furstenberg's.

The 40th anniversary of the dress will be celebrated throughout the year: the label has created a limited collection of pop-art printed wraps in collaboration with The Andy Warhol Foundation, and is also asking women to submit their personal stories of the Diane von Furstenberg wrap dresses they've known. It's a nostalgic project, which makes it a fitting tribute to the dress that was adored so much, it became an icon.