Donna Karan

 

30 years

the art of new york

fall 2014

"To live in New York is to live in motion— Passionate, dynamic, forever evolving forward. Every view is electric, buildings pulsating with energy and light, The woman who lives here is strong, creative, sensitive— Inspired to express herself with style. Each piece is an object of desire, an iconic element, designed to take her where she’s going, day to night New York is what I stand for—the past, the present, the future. The palette is all city: Black, Shades of Gray, Camel, Vicuna, shots of Ruby and White. As always, it begins with the body, the foundation day into night. From there, it’s Seven Easy Pieces with an artisan touch. City lights are everywhere— in glistening cutwork of blocks and beads Urban–inspired masculine jackets have endless style— add sheer emotion or architectural structure. Everything waist–ed, slim–belted—then long, lean and leggy.

 

30 years later, I see style as an evolution, a unique reflection of who you are, where you’ve been, and where you’re going. For me, it’s fueled by living in New York,

A glorious, ever–changing window to the world. The Journey Continues..."

 

 Donna Karan

 



 







 

Hats: Stephen Jones Millinery for Donna Karan New York

 

Artist and filmmaker Steven Sebring is known for a distinctive style that merges realism with fantasy, the street with high luxury. Sebring's most recent artistic and technological developments led to the launch of Revolution in May 2013 at the 69th Regiment Amory in New York City. Taking 360 degree photography to a new level, this exhibition, a visual symphony in four parts, consisted of photographs, sculpture, interactive media and a collection of films, all created through Sebring’s unique artistic process that captures form and movement from infinite angles. Showcasing films shot on a custom rig, Revolution is Sebring’s photographic investigation of light from multiple perspectives, a four dimensional exploration through space and time. On the heels of this debut of Revolution, Sebring introduces a monumental media installation to New York fashion week in a collaboration with designer and long–time friend Donna Karan.

 

TONYA HAWKES

A lifelong love for the luxury of leather has lead to this… After nineteen years of working for some of the world’s most prestigious labels Tonya Hawkes releases her own designs.

Even as a teenager, Tonya Hawkes seemed to have a calling. As a keen horsewoman, she found herself fascinated by the workmanship of the leather goods and tack she used every time she rode her Arabian horse, Major Shaamraq. After finishing school she attended Seattle Central’s famous fashion program, before beginning her career in New York City with luxury fashion house Donna Karan and DKNY.

While she excelled in training involving haute couture draping and pattern-making, Tonya found herself equally drawn to the labels’ accessories, and began making her mark as an expert in the field. During her nine years with the famous brand, she directed the DKNY accessory design team through a time when it became one of most profitable divisions of the company, eventually becoming an executive at Donna Karan and VP of shoes and accessories.

Then Italy beckoned. Giovanna Furlanetto, president of global luxury accessory brand Furla, personally chose Tonya to become the company’s creative director in Bologna. In her role directing and managing all aspects of the accessories line, from handbags to homewares, she brought the brand to a younger audience with an appreciation for luxury.For the past seven years, Tonya has continued to work in Italy, collaborating with an impressive role call of fashion houses, Sergio Rossi, Elie Tahari, Gianfranco Ferre, Tommy Hilfiger and Alice + Olivia among them.

The result is that she has built an outstanding reputation for creating original designs that capture the essence of a brand. While she still calls New York home, Tonya uses her international lifestyle to inspire her. ‘I can really take the best of both worlds and make all my dreams come true,’ she says. ‘And now it’s time for my own label, Tonya Hawkes, to come to life.’

http://www.tonyahawkes.com/

 

 

 

An Account of a Woman's Journey

The Spring 2013 Sheila Johnson Collection titled Contes: An Account of a Woman’s Journey, features images that Sheila took in Haiti, Rwanda and Uganda. Each scarf has a compelling and unique story such as the woman in the Ugandan sandal market who only makes one dollar a day but hopes to have her own shop soon or the Haitian artists who painted their stunning artwork on scrap metal from the earthquake; but when worn they are simply beautiful scarves. Inspired by the world around her Johnson, digitally prints her beautiful nature, still life and philanthropic photography onto her luxurious Italian made scarves. Translating her photographs into wearable art and affordable luxury, Johnson uses rich, vivid colors to capture the joy, peace, beauty and hope as seen through the lens of her camera. The collection, which launched in November 2012 with the Holiday 2012/Resort 2013 season, is manufactured in Prato, Italy and made of 100% modal.

Perhaps best known as a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist, Sheila Johnson’s business career began in the entertainment industry, where she cofounded the influential BET network. Today, Johnson works as a prominent film producer most recently producing The Butler scheduled for release in 2013 directed by Lee Daniels, starring Robin Williams, Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker & Jane Fonda, among others. As founder and CEO of Salamander Hotels and Resorts, Johnson oversees a growing portfolio of luxury properties, including the new Salamander Resort & Spa, opening in Middleburg, VA, in 2013.  She is also the owner of three professional sports teams in Washington DC - the Wizards, the Mystics, and the Capitals.  In addition, Johnson serves as chair of the Board of Governors of Parsons The New School for Design in NYC, where she funded both an award-winning design center, The Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, and a scholarship for talented but underserved students.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Haiti Artisan Project; a division of Donna Karan’s Urban Zen Foundation. (Please visit http://www.urbanzen.org/about/preserving-cultures/)

www.sheilajohnsoncollection.com

The Spring 2013 Sheila Johnson Collection titled Contes: An Account of a Woman’s Journey, features images that Sheila took in Haiti, Rwanda and Uganda. Each scarf has a compelling and unique story such as the woman in the Ugandan sandal market who only makes one dollar a day but hopes to have her own shop soon or the Haitian artists who painted their stunning artwork on scrap metal from the earthquake; but when worn they are simply beautiful scarves.

Inspired by the world around her Johnson, digitally prints her beautiful nature, still life and philanthropic photography onto her luxurious Italian made scarves. Translating her photographs into wearable art and affordable luxury, Johnson uses rich, vivid colors to capture the joy, peace, beauty and hope as seen through the lens of her camera.

The collection, which launched in November 2012 with the Holiday 2012/Resort 2013 season, is manufactured in Prato, Italy and made of 100% modal.

 

Perhaps best known as a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist, Sheila Johnson’s business career began in the entertainment industry, where she cofounded the influential BET network. Today, Johnson works as a prominent film producer most recently producing The Butler scheduled for release in 2013 directed by Lee Daniels, starring Robin Williams, Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker & Jane Fonda, among others.

As founder and CEO of Salamander Hotels and Resorts, Johnson oversees a growing portfolio of luxury properties, including the new Salamander Resort & Spa, opening in Middleburg, VA, in 2013.  She is also the owner of three professional sports teams in Washington DC - the Wizards, the Mystics, and the Capitals.  In addition, Johnson serves as chair of the Board of Governors of Parsons The New School for Design in NYC, where she funded both an award-winning design center, The Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, and a scholarship for talented but underserved students.

 

A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Haiti Artisan Project; a division of Donna Karan’s Urban Zen Foundation. (Please visit http://www.urbanzen.org/about/preserving-cultures/)

 

www.sheilajohnsoncollection.com

 

DKNY

 

Runway Sun, Feb 10 2013

 

"Everything I do is a matter of heart, body and soul," says Donna Karan, chief designer of the international company that bears her name. "For me, designing is an expression of who I am as a woman, with all the complications, feelings and emotions."

In fact, Karan credits her feminine instincts for the success of the company she founded in 1984 with her late husband Stephan Weiss, which went on to become a publicly-traded enterprise in 1996, and then five years later, was acquired by its present owner, the French luxury conglomerate, LVMH , Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Says Karan, "That I’m a woman makes me want to nurture others, fulfill needs and solve problems. At the same time, the artist within me strives for beauty, both sensually and visually. So design is a constant challenge to balance comfort with luxe, the practical with the desirable."

 

 Backstage

 

How Karan meets that challenge can run from the simplicity of a bodysuit (where it all began) to the artisan glamour of a limited edition hand-painted devore dress. Whatever form the design takes, Karan will tell you it begins and ends with the body - its sensual expression, sense of security, and freedom of movement.

A modern system of dressing, Karan’s concept is based on seven easy pieces, where a handful of interchangeable items work together to create an entire wardrobe that goes from day to evening, week day to weekend, season to season. "I’m designing for an international man and woman. A creative person who never knows where a day is going to take them," says Karan. "That’s why New York is on the label. It sets the pace, the attitude."

Speaking in a multi-cultural language of fashion, Karan is inspired by the life and innate style of the artist. Quintessential hallmarks include black cashmere, leather, stretch and molded fabrics, often developed by Karan, as well as silhouettes that wrap and sculpt the body. For Karan, it’s never been just about clothes; It’s about life styles. She sees the entire picture from head-to-toe, from function to aesthetic. Handbags and shoes are designed right alongside the clothes. "How do I dress the leg?" inspired Donna Karan Hosiery. "The right bra?" Donna Karan Intimates. "The perfect glasses?" Donna Karan Eyewear. The list goes on to include belts, accessories and, as Karan puts it, Everything you need to pull yourself together."

 

 Backstage

 

Karan’s quest for the perfect jeans, as well as her desire to dress her daughter Gabby, resulted in the 1989 birth of DKNY . Fast fashion with an urban mind-set, DKNY is what Karan calls "the pizza to Collection’s caviar." DKNY grew so popular and diverse that other brands and labels spun from it, including DKNY Jeans, DKNY Active, DKNY Underwear, DKNY JEANS Juniors, AND DKNY Kids. (Not surprisingly, Karan’s grandkids and friends’ kids had much to do with the latter). Like Collection, DKNY has an accessories and shoe collection to underscore its New York City street-smart look.

Determined to seduce all the senses, Karan took on the world of beauty in 1992 under the business and creative leadership of her husband, who designed the bottles and jars for the signature fragrances and their ancillary products. The beauty division went on to introduce best-selling fragrances. Completing the lifestyle approach to design, in 2001 Karan introduced a Donna Karan Home collection "all about touch and feel," which includes everything from luxe bedding and candles to cashmere throws, and DKNY home, which accents interiors with fashion-forward bedding and accessories.

Donna Karan International has an excess of one hundred company-owned and licensed free standing Donna Karan collection, DKNY , AND DKNY JEANS stores worldwide. The first flagships opened in London - DKNY in 1994, and Collection two years later. 1999 marked the opening of the uptown New York City DKNY flagship store, located at 60th Street and Madison Avenue, and two years later, came the downtown DKNY flagship on West Broadway in SoHo. Bringing it back to where it all began, in 2001 Karan opened the Donna Karan New York flagship store, the premiere Collection showcase, at 819 Madison Avenue. Designed as "a serene escape from the city’s chaos," a dramatic indoor/outdoor river rock garden runs through the townhouse’s ground floor.

 

For Karan, it literally and creatively began in New York. She was born into fashion on Long Island. Not only was her father Gabby Faske (who died when Karan was three) a tailor, her mother Helen was a showroom model and fashion sales rep. Even Karan’s stepfather Harold Flaxman was in the fashion business. So it was only natural that Karan, while still in high school, designed her first collection and staged her first show.

Following her second year at Parson’s School of Design, Karan was hired by Anne Klein for a summer job . After three years as an associate designer, Karan was named successor following Klein’s death in 1974. Louis De ll’Olio , a Parson’s friend, joined her a year later. Together, they designed the Anne Klein Collection. In a foreshadow of DKNY , Karan created Anne Klein II in 1982, originating the concept of bridge and lifestyle dressing in fashion. After ten years of designing Anne Klein, Karan was ready to go out on her own with the support of Weiss and partner Takiyho, Inc. the owner of Anne Klein & Co. Fall 1985 saw the first Donna Karan New York Collection and the reaction from the press and retailers proved once again that Karan made fashion history.

Throughout her long career, Karan’s peers have acknowledged her achievements with numerous accolades. The Council of Fashion De signers of America has saluted her six times. In 2003, Karan was the first American designer to receive Fashion Group International’s "Superstar Award." A year later, Karan’s Alma Mater Parson’s gave her an honorary doctorate to commemorate her contribution to the school and fashion industry, and in 2007, Glamour magazine named Karan one of their Women of the Year. Using her company’s visibility and resources for social causes is a heartfelt priority. A member of CFDA ’s board of directors, Karan conceived and spearheaded its Seventh on Sale benefits to raise funds for AIDS awareness and education. Karan co-chairs the annual New York "Kids for Kids" events for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, as she has since its 1993 inception, as well as underwrites "Super Saturday," an annual designer flea market/barbeque founded with the late Liz Tilberis in 1998 to benefit the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. To facilitate her many on-going philanthropic involvements, in 1999, Karan and Weiss established the Karan Weiss Foundation.

Karan’s Urban Zen Initiative, founded in 2007, is the culmination of Karan's philanthropic efforts. explains Karan, "I have founded the Urban Zen Initiative to create a working structure for advancing wellness, preserving culture and empowering children. These are the causes that mean the world to me."

DONNA KARAN NEW YORK

SENSUAL, SOULFUL, SCULPTURAL

You can only be who you are...

"I am a New York woman, embracing the world.

Designing clothes that move day to night,

Monday to Sunday in any city, every culture.

My husband Stephan—his art and soul—is a part of me,

Inspiring and guiding me to sculpt the body with expression.

This collection is the evolution of Seven Easy Pieces,

A system where the body and spirit communicate

The sensuality and power of being a woman,

With multiple passions, constantly on the go.

The foundation is a jersey body—

a mix of matte, shine, sheer and skin— whether a bodysuit,

dress, skirt, jumpsuit, slouch jodphurs or leggings.

Then comes the new architectural elements:

Accessories that create endless possibilities,

to individualize, set the mood. THE CAPE —

liquid or structured—reveals and conceals

as a scarf over dress, jacket, pant or skirt.

THE COWL , CUFFS or VEST—curly or long tipped shearling—

add volume and glamour. Suit up with a bodyjacket

with contrast sculpted sleeves, in stretch corrugated felt,

tweeds, leather and suede; The perfect classic camel

in curvaceous neoprene/cashmere jackets and coats.

Finish with the ultimate topper, graphically pieced together—

a devore haircalf car coat. The curly shearling,

nylon and suede pieces worn separately

or combined into a truly knock–out look.

Everything unites with a textured urban palette—

Essential Black, every shade of Metal, earthy Bark and raw Rust.

Accessories are skin on skin: Sculpted leather body jewelry

sliced with silver or gold in cuffs, collars and belts.

Elbow length suede gloves. Iconic Evolution hosiery.

Pure suede platform shoes or over–the–knee wedge boots.

And a shearling handbag to carry your day.

Evening paints the body with artisan strokes—

From the simplicity of a jersey body that sculpts the form,

To the height of luxury in velvets, satins and sequins,

Each an individual force of artistry and seduction.

These are clothes for women like me—

Who live and work 24/7 with passion and dress with emotion.

I believe the body talks a language all its own.

Depending on your DNA , these clothes say something new

every time And create a statement all your own"

DONNA KARAN