| Everything I do is a matter of heart, body and soul," says Donna Karan. She credits her feminine instincts for the success of the company she founded in 1984 with her late husband Stephan Weiss. The company went on to become a publicly-traded enterprise in 1996 and five years later, was acquired by its present owner, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Karan says, "Design is a constant challenge to balance comfort with luxe, the practical with the desirable."
How Karan meets that challenge can run from the simplicity of a bodysuit, the drama of an artisan dress to the fast fashion of a jeans lifestyle, which inspired DKNY, founded in 1989. Inspired by Karan's desire to dress her husband, menswear came about in 1992. Over the years, Donna Karan International has diversified into myriad divisions addressing every age and lifestyle, including beauty and home furnishings. Karan began her career at a summer job assisting Anne Klein. After three years as associate designer, Karan was named successor following Klein's death in 1974, a position Karan held with partner Louis Dell'Olio. Ten years later, Karan went out on her own. Fall 1985 saw the first Donna Karan Collection. Since then, the CFDA has saluted Karan an unprecedented seven times, including this year's Lifetime Achievement award which coincided with Karan's company's 20th anniversary. |
