Donna Karan

Donna Karan is the premier fashion designer and perhaps the most influential to appear in America in
many years. Karan’s impact on the world of fashion is reflected in the fact that she sells more than $150
million per year.

Donna Faske was born in New York in 1948. In 1962 she dropped out of school, and started selling
clothes at a neighborhood boutique. After 4 years, in 1966 she enrolled in the prestigious Parsons
School of Design. She married Mark Karan and had a daughter Gabrielle, nicknamed Gabby. She was
divorced in 1983 and married her childhood sweetheart sculptor Stephan Weiss.

In 1968 Donna took up a summer job with the designer Anne Klein. A couple of months later, she was
fired because she said “I was so good, that Anne Klein felt insecure and could not stand me in the design
room.” Karan’s talent drew the attention of Patti Cappalli head of a label called “Addenda” and it was
under her tutelage that Donna Karan developed as a designer. Karan worked with Cappalli for 18
months.

In 1970 Donna Karan returned to Anne Klein. In 1974 Anne Klein died of cancer, and Donna Karan
completed her unfinished collection. Donna Karan and her Parsons classmate Dell ‘Olio made Anne Klein
into one of the biggest and most profitable designer sportswear companies in the USA.

She collected 3 Coty Awards (The American Fashion Designer’s version of the Oscar) during the time she
was with Anne Klein.

In 1985 Donna Karan went solo, and started her own label, the Donna Karan Collection. In 1988 she
started a second line which she called DKNY (Donna Karan New York). Her collection was of coordinated
working outfits, which could mix-and-match, along with a range of accessories to complement her
designs. She combined comfort and simplicity with elegance to make sportswear, working wear and
evening dresses. Her designs were considered classics.

Less than a year after starting her own company Donna Karan was awarded the Council of Fashion
Designers of America Award, for outstanding creative contribution to American Fashion. This is called
the “Gold Thimble” Award.

Donna Karan’s 1995/1996 collection was held in her slick Manhattan 4 storey store, as a charity fashion
evening, in favor of the Chicken Shed Theatre Company which helps retarded children.