Background

Donna Karan was born on October 2, 1948, in New York City, New York, the United States, to Helen ("Queenie") and Gabby Faske. Both her mother and father were involved in fashion careers, so it seemed inevitable she should follow in their footsteps. Her father was a custom tailor who died in a car accident when Donna was three years old.

Her mother had been a showroom model turned fashion sales representative. Helen's second husband was Harold Flaxman, who was also involved in the garment business. The family moved to Long Island after the marriage, where Karan and her older sister Gail were raised.

Education

Karan's family's influence was apparent in her early life, as a youngster, she became obsessed with fashion. Both her mother and father were involved in fashion careers, so it seemed inevitable she should follow in their footsteps. She launched a career in fashion at age 14 when she lied about her age to secure a job selling clothes in a boutique. Donna graduated from Hewlett High School in 1966.

She attended the Parsons School of Design for two years, leaving at the age of nineteen to work for Anne Klein, a popular women's sportswear designer known for skirts, blouses, sweaters, and jackets that could easily be mixed and matched.

Career

After two years studying fashion at Parsons School of Design in New York, Donna Karan was hired by Anne Klein for a summer job. Her work there proved so impressive that within two years she was named associate designer. By the age of 26, Karan was named head designer. Karan's ascendency to the top of Anne Klein happened not long after the founding designer's death. Her next lucky break was to shape the rest of her career. She was named successor to Anne Klein and together with Louis Dell'Olio, who joined the company a year later, designed the Klein collection.

In 1982, the company introduced the successful Anne Klein diffusion line. She launched Anne Klein II, a so-called bridge line of clothes priced slightly lower than the signature collection and meant for the working woman. So successful was the concept that the company's financial backers, Tomio Taki and Frank Mori, invested $10 million in working capital for Karan to start her own collection. She turned over the reins at Anne Klein to her assistant, Louis Dell'Olio, in 1984.

In 1984 Karan used seed money provided by Tomio Taki, chairman of the American branch of a Japanese textile firm and a major partner in Anne Klein, to launch her own company with husband Stephan Weiss. The first Donna Karan Collection, launched in 1985, received critical acclaim. The following years brought an expansion of offerings: swimwear in 1986, and a hosiery collection in 1987.

In addition to answering her own needs and those of many other women, Karan drew inspiration from the pace and attitude of New York City, naming her collection Donna Karan New York. Soon the label included fragrance and beauty products, a men's collection, a children's line, and a home furnishings collection. In 1989 she launched DKNY, a casual line of less expensive, more youthful fashions. In 1990, she developed DKNY Jeans and then, two years later, debuted DKNY for men.

Karan won rave reviews for her mix-and-match clothing in soft fabrics and neutral colors. She was especially noted for her signature bodysuits, dark tights, sarong-wrap skirts, fitted jackets, and heavy pieces of jewelry. Since then a whole host of ancillary products have been created under the DKNY name, from children's clothes to furniture. In 1996 Karan took her company public.

In April 2001 Donna Karan New York was acquired for $643 million by the French luxury goods conglomerate Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH). What was then known as Donna Karan International had over eighty freestanding Donna Karan and DKNY retail locations worldwide, including the original two stores in London and three in New York City.

In 2007 she founded Urban Zen, a line that included clothing, accessories, and wellness goods. Her involvement in that company increased, and in 2015 it was announced that she was stepping down as chief designer of Donna Karan and would serve only as an adviser. The following year LVMH agreed to sell Donna Karan International to the American company G-III Apparel Group for an estimated $650 million.

Karan published her autobiography The Journey of a Woman in 2004. In 2015, she stepped down as the head of her own label to devote her time to Urban Zen, a lifestyle brand she launched in 2007. She released a memoir, My Journey, in 2015.

Achievements

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  Donna Karan remains one of the most important American designers of the twentieth century. On a par with the legendary Coco Chanel, Donna Karan has changed the way women dress their bodies and promote their image in a fast-paced, successful, ever-changing woman’s world.
  
  Over the years, Karan has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors. In 2003, she became the first American to ever receive Fashion Group International's Superstar Award. The following year, she received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

Works

More photos

• book

  • My Journey

    (In this candid memoir, featuring a foreword by Barbra Str...)

    2012
  • The Journey Of A Woman

    (The Journey of a woman: 20 years of Donna Karan chronicle...)

    2004

Religion

Donna Karan is the follower of Judaism. She also devotes a lot of time to Kabbalistic teachings.

Politics

Donna Karan publicly supports democratic candidates. She expressed her support to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and many others. She also uses her social media accounts to promote the importance of voting.

Views

Donna Karan’s experiences caring for her late husband led her to create the Urban Zen Foundation, opening up avenues to support people suffering from illnesses both physically and emotionally, complementing their medical treatments and easing their suffering. The organization has since developed to help empower children and preserve cultures around the world. The foundation is dedicated to three initiatives: preservation of culture (past), bringing mind, body, and spirit to healthcare (present) and education (future).

After Haiti’s 2010 earthquake, Karan became passionately involved with the Clinton Global Initiative to develop and support sustainable artisan opportunities in Haiti, culminating in 2015, when Karan collaborated with her alma mater, Parsons School of Design, to open the Haitian vocational education center called D.O.T. (Design Organization Training).

Urban Zen is, in part, supported by the Urban Zen brand and stores, a harmony of philanthropy and commerce, an idea Karan cultivated through her leadership on Seventh on Sale, the CFDA AIDS benefit, Kids for Kids Carnival for Pediatric AIDS, and Super Saturday, an annual Hamptons tag sale Karan founded with Liz Tilberis to benefit Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.

Quotations: "Urban Zen is my passion. It’s where all the things I care most about come together: creativity, compassion, and community. It’s a connection of past, present, and future."

"Accent your positive and delete your negative."

"Age and size are only numbers. It's the attitude you bring to clothes that make the difference."

"I truly believe that philanthropy and commerce can work together."

"I believe in comfort. If you don't feel comfortable in your clothes, it's hard to think of anything else."

Personality

Donna Karan has a fascination with Eastern mediation and philosophy, which is sometimes reflected in her designs.

Interests

• Eastern mediation and philosophy, yoga

• Politicians

  Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton

• Writers

  The Self-Care Solution by Jennifer Ashton, Aesthetic Intelligence by Pauline Brown, What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey

• Artists

  Tawny Chatmon, Nichole Washington

• Sport & Clubs

  Show jumping, softball, volleyball, basketball, skiing

• Music & Bands

  Barbra Streisand

Connections

Donna married Long Island retailer Mark Karan in 1974 and the couple had one daughter together. While the couple divorced in 1978, they remained good friends. In 1983 she married Stephan Weiss, whom she had first met on a blind date ten years earlier. They have one son. Weiss died in 2001.

Father:

Gabby Faske

Mother:

Helen Faske

Sister:

Gail Faske

Ex-husband:

Mark Karan

Daughter:

Gabby Karan De Felice

husband:

Stephan Weiss

The pair first met when Karen was 19 years old and engaged to Mark Karan, her ex-husband. The designer said their first meeting was nothing short of electric. Karan went on to marry Mark, and together they had a daughter. But she continued her relationship with Weiss while married, and she and Mark divorced in 1978. She and Weiss, an artist and the co-founder of the Donna Karan Company, tied the knot in 1983.

Son:

Corey Weiss

Friend:

Barbra Streisand

Acquaintance:

Sarah Parker

References

• Donna Karan on Instagram