Donna Karan

Fashion Designer

• Born: October 2, 1948
• Place of Birth: Forest Hills, Queens, New York

FASHION DESIGNER, BUSINESS EXECUTIVE, AND PHILANTHROPIST

One of the foremost fashion designers in the world, Karan built a global corporation that sells womenswear, beauty products, menswear, childrenswear, fragrances, and accessories. She revolutionized fashion design with the first successful diffusion line of affordable designer clothing and her concept of seven easy pieces for a complete wardrobe.

AREAS OF ACHIEVEMENT: Fashion; business; philanthropy

Early Life

On October 2, 1948, Donna Karan (KAR-ehn) was born Donna Ivy Faske in Forest Hills, Queens, New York. Her father, Gabby Faske, was a tailor, and he died when Karan was three. Her mother, Helen Richie, nicknamed “Queenie,” was a showroom model and later a sales representative in New York City’s garment district. Karan’s stepfather, Harold Flaxman, also worked in the fashion industry.

As a child, Karan knew she wanted a career in fashion. At the age of fourteen, she found a job selling clothing in a neighborhood boutique. While in high school, she presented a fashion show. After graduating from Hewlett High School in 1966, she entered the celebrated Parsons School of Design, where she won numerous student awards. Her classmates included Bill Robinson, Willi Smith, and Louis Dell’Olio, who would become famous designers.

In 1968, after two years at Parsons, Karan was offered a summer job by Anne Klein, a leading sportswear designer. Karan left Parsons before graduating, but later in 2003 Parsons awarded her an honorary doctorate. Karan worked at Anne Klein until 1969. In 1970, she married Mark Karan, who owned a Long Island boutique. Their daughter, Gabrielle, was born in 1974, and the couple was divorced in 1978.

In 1971, Donna Karan returned to Anne Klein as an associate designer. When Klein died in 1974, Karan was named her successor and chief designer. In 1975, Parsons classmate and friend Dell’Olio, became her codesigner. Their popular designs made Anne Klein and Company profitable. Karan and Dell’Olio won the Coty American Fashion Critics Award, the industry’s top honor, in 1977 and 1981. In 1982, Karan presented her Anne Klein II collection, the first successful “bridge line” of moderately priced designer fashions, to be sold in department stores. In 1983, Karan married her second husband, sculptor Stephan Weiss, who died of lung cancer in 2001. In 1984, Karan won her third Coty Award and was elected to the Coty Hall of Fame. After ten years at Anne Klein, Karan founded her own design firm, the Donna Karan Company. She was the chief designer, and she and Weiss served jointly as the chief executives.

Life’s Work

In 1985, Karan’s new company launched her first collection, Seven Easy Pieces, which was a phenomenal success. The seven essential, interchangeable pieces consisted of a jacket, blouse or turtleneck, skirt, coat, leggings or pants, bodysuit, and dress. Designed with the workingwoman in mind, the simple but stylish pieces were a complete wardrobe, appropriate for day or evening and for all seasons or occasions. That year, the Council of Fashion Designers (CFDA) named Karan designer of the year.

Karan introduced a swimwear collection in 1986. Donna Karan Hosiery, licensed with Hanes, debuted in 1987. The successful Anne Klein II collection (1983), the first “bridge” line, led other designers to develop bridge collections. In 1988, Karan launched her own bridge line, the DKNY, a casual line of affordably priced clothing for workingwomen inspired by the energy of the fast-paced New York lifestyle. DKNY led to other labels, including DKNY Jeans, DKNY Underwear, DKNY JEANS Juniors, DKNY Kids, and DKNY Active. By the early 1990s, the DKNY collection accounted for almost 80 percent of the company’s total sales.

Karan introduced Donna Karan Eyewear in 1988 and Donna Karan Menswear, Donna Karan Shoes, and Donna Karan Intimates in 1992. That year Karan was named CFDA’s menswear designer of the year. The Donna Karan Beauty Company, cosmetic and fragrance division, New York, began in 1992, with her first signature fragrance and a perfume bottle design by Weiss. Consisting of fourteen divisions, Karan’s company grossed $275 million in 1992. In 1993, the Milan office opened, and DKNY Men’s began. In 1994, the DKNY flagship store opened in London.

In 1996, the Donna Karan International Company, which included the DKNY label, went public on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1997, the Donna Karan home accessories collection made its debut. There were forty-seven DKNY stores and sixteen Donna Karan New York stores worldwide. In 2001, Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH), the French luxury goods conglomerate, bought the Donna Karan International Company for $643 million, but Karan remained the chief creative director and retained control of her name. That year, a ten-thousand-square-foot DKNY store opened on Madison Avenue in New York.

In 2003, Karan became the first American to receive the Superstar Award from Fashion Group International. In 2004, the Council of Fashion Designers of America presented Karan a lifetime achievement award, and she was one of Glamour magazine’s Women of the Year in 2007. In 2007, Karan founded the Urban Zen Initiative, dedicated to advancing holistic healing, preserving culture, and empowering children.

Through the years, Karan’s high-priced designs have appealed to the wealthy and famous. She designed her friend Barbra Streisand’s wedding gown, and Karan has dressed such film stars as Gwyneth Paltrow, Demi Moore, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, and Uma Thurman. Other clients have included President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Larry Hagman, Warren Beatty, Michael Bolton, and Richard Gere. At the Academy Awards ceremony in March 2010, Best Supporting Actress nominee Penelope Cruz, dressed in a crimson Donna Karan gown, was voted one of the Ten Best Dressed Stars.

In June 2015 Karan announced that she was stepping down as the head of Donna Karan International. Reports suggested that the relationship between Karan and LVMH had been deteriorating, which led to her decision to leave. The company suspended the Donna Karan line and planned to put its focus on the DKNY fashion line. Though she remained as a consultant, Karan left to work more with Urban Zen.

Significance

Karan’s revolutionary concepts, such as Seven Easy Pieces and the bridge line, transformed the fashion industry and the way women dress. Her multimillion-dollar global empire continued into the twenty-first century. An artistic and marketing genius, Karan became a celebrity. She has used her extraordinary fame and resources generously for numerous philanthropic causes. Since 1993 she has cochaired the annual New York “Kids for Kids” events to benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Since 1998, Karan has underwritten Super Saturday, an annual designer flea market-garage sale to benefit the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. On July 31, 2010, this event raised $3.3 million. In 2009, the foundation donated $850,000 to New York’s Beth Israel Medical Center to test the effects of yoga and meditation on patients in the cancer wing.

Bibliography

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Friedman, Vanessa, and Jacob Bernstein. "Donna Karan Steps Down, in Major Shift for Fashion." New York Times. New York Times, 30 June 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

Golbin, Pamela. Fashion Designers. New York: Watson-Guptill, 2001. Print.

Karan, Donna. Modern Souls. New York: Power House Books, 1995. Print.

Lockwood, Lisa. "What's Next for Donna Karan?" WWD. Fairchild, 8 July 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

Saini, Mayu. "Donna Karan on Meditation, Fashion—and Love." WWD. Fairchild, 28 Mar. 2016. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

Sischy, Ingrid. DonnaKaran. New York: Assouline, 2006. Print.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. The Journey of a Woman: Twenty Years of Donna Karan. New York: Assouline, 2004. Print.

Twersky, Carolyn. "Donna Karan New York Would Like to Introduce Itself." W Magazine, 8 Feb. 2024, www.wmagazine.com/fashion/donna-karan-new-york-relaunch-news. Accessed 1 Sept. 2024.