Word: donnas
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Karan has tailored a full-line apparel conglomerate. There is the Donna Karan collection for men and women, top-of-the-line fashion ($650 for a pair of woman's pants, $1,350 for a man's wool crepe suit). Then there is the exploding DKNY division, which showed other designers how to sell chic women's sportswear at relatively modest prices ($450 for a woman's wool blazer vs. - $1,100 for a comparable collection garment). Now DKNY has been expanded to include clothes for children and men. Karan also has licensing deals to make hosiery, a line...
...Karan's gift is that she makes wearable, flattering clothes for real women, whether they are corporate lawyers, Candice Bergen or the well-heeled wives of orthopedic surgeons. That sounds simple, but it is a rare talent on Seventh Avenue. "No one understands a woman's body better than Donna Karan," says Andrea Jung, executive vice president at Neiman Marcus. Harper's Bazaar editor in chief Elizabeth Tilberis points out that Karan's designs, unlike those of some of her rivals, work as well for a size 10 as a size 6. And while Lauren, say, can get away with...
...Karan seems right at home in the rough, insular world of Seventh Avenue, it may be because she was born into it. Her father Gabby Faske, who died when Donna was three, was a tailor. Her mother Helen worked as a sales representative and showroom model. Known in the family as "the Queen," Karan's mother was an imperiously demanding woman. Does Karan's childhood explain her drive? After 18 years of psychoanalysis, Karan has either found the answer or stopped asking the question. "I think I was born this way," she says. "I never feel I've done...
After studying at New York City's Parsons School of Design, Karan went to work at 19 for Anne Klein, another lady who was notoriously hard to please. "Donna idolized Annie, and she was afraid of her," recalls Burt Wayne, head of the Anne Klein design studio and a good friend of both women. Wayne recalls meeting Karan for the first time when he visited Klein at her apartment. Donna was standing on the terrace with Klein, showing her various fabrics. "Her hair was blowing, the fabrics were flying. You could instantly see Donna's enthusiasm -- and her tenacity." When...
...eternally jaded fashion crowd gave her a standing ovation, whistling, wildly shouting her name. A month after that, she broke records at a special sale for customers of Bergdorf Goodman, the premier U.S. fashion retailer. Dawn Mello, then Bergdorf's president, recalls the scene when the sale ended: "Donna burst into tears and sat on the floor, weeping, amazed at what she had done...