• Intelligencer
  • The Cut
  • Vulture
  • The Strategist
  • Curbed
  • Grub Street
  • Subscribe to the Magazine Give a Gift Subscription Buy Back Issues Current Issue Contents
    Subscribe to New York Magazine
  • Subscribe
  • Profile
    Sign Out
The Cut
  • Style
  • Self
  • Culture
  • Power
Style
  • Fashion
  • Beauty
  • Parties & Red Carpet
  • Fashion Shows
  • Cathy Horyn
  • The Cut Shop
Self
  • Health & Wellness
  • The State of the Uterus
  • Parenting
  • Advice
  • Sex & Relationships
  • Horoscopes
Culture
  • Books
  • Television
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Celebrity
Power
  • Politics
  • Work
  • Money
  • Rebecca Traister
More
  • Latest Stories
  • Video
  • About Us
  • nymag.com
  • New York Magazine
  • Intelligencer
  • Vulture
  • The Cut
  • The Strategist
  • Grub Street
  • Curbed
looking back
July 1, 2015

Donna Karan Helped Women Look Like Themselves

By Véronique Hyland

Share

  • Share
  • Tweet
Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

When Donna Karan announced yesterday that she was parting ways with the company she founded 31 years ago, it marked an end to a design career that always had real women’s concerns at the forefront. Unlike many designers who work with an abstract concept of womanhood in mind, Karan knew her customer because, as she’s often pointed out, she was her customer: a working woman balancing career, family, and a spiritual life. After spending her early career at Anne Klein, Karan launched her own line with her much-vaunted Seven Easy Pieces collection in 1984. It was a move that would be endlessly copied over the years as designers released so-called “capsule collections.” But the original version was meant to truly serve as a modular wardrobe, with versatile pieces that included a simple bodysuit and a classic white shirt.

It was a welcome gust of simplicity at a time when the main options were either man-tailored power suits or the expensive furbelows of Nouvelle Society designers like Christian Lacroix. Karan’s aesthetic occupied the significant space between pinstripes and poufs. Critics were enthused, to say the least. Bernardine Morris of the New York Times celebrated the fact that the designer didn’t make her woman look “like a clone of a male executive.” Karan’s alternative was a kind of soft power, which felt inherently feminine without reverting to anything infantilizing or cutesy. Even her famous “cold shoulder” cutout dress, as worn by Hillary Clinton and Liza Minnelli, was made with regular women in mind — after all, as the designer put it, “the only place you never gain weight is your shoulder.”

Her still-talked-about “In Women We Trust” campaign in 1992 showed a woman being sworn in as president and sitting in the Oval Office, among other images in an 8-page spread shot by Peter Lindbergh. At the dawn of the waif era, the designer, who often talks about her size-12 frame, made a point of casting size-8, 34-year-old Rosemary McGrotha as the commander-in-chief. Ever the multitasker, Karan gave an interview about the campaign to New York while she pedaled a stationary bike, saying, “I’m not trying to elevate women at the expense of men, but to say that a woman could go for it.” (And while Karan’s vision hasn’t yet come to fruition 23 years later, it soon might in the form of Clinton, a loyal Karan fan.)

Karan was also one of the first mainstream designers to embrace streetwear and what we would now call athleisure. Inspired by her teenage daughter Gaby, she founded DKNY as a diffusion line in 1989, saying, “I’m bored with the concept of dressing ‘the executive woman.’ These are clothes to have fun in.” That meant oversize logo tees, leggings, and pool slides — play clothes for cool, downtown kids that were soon adopted nationwide, complete with an iconic mural that served as the gateway to Soho for many years. Earlier this year, she announced that Public School’s Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow, whose line is heavily influenced by streetwear, would be carrying on the tradition as creative directors of the line.

As the designer aged, she became an evangelist for wellness, and anticipated the current fervor for all things health-chic. Her Urban Zen foundation and clothing line promoted a yoga-and-meditation-driven lifestyle. And she advocated a saner alternative to fashion’s hectic seasonal cycle, telling Women’s Wear Daily, “[It’s] a smorgasbord of too much. You eat all of the food, more, more, more, more and more … All of this stuff, stuff, stuff, stuff; it’s going to obliterate each other. The whole thing has to be rethought, completely.” When many industry types paid lip service to paring down the industry, Karan was actually working to do so, encouraging the CFDA to take action on the issue.

Perhaps Karan’s biggest legacy, though, is that of female figurehead of a longstanding fashion business. Paradoxically, in an industry most strongly associated with women, it’s still rare to find a fashion company fronted by a woman — and it was even rarer when Karan started (Diane von Furstenberg and Vivienne Westwood are two peers who are still in charge). Whether or not you wore Karan’s designs, you knew her name and her face — not to mention the company she designed in her own image.

Click through the slideshow to see some of Karan’s greatest runway and advertising moments over the years.

View
1 / 27 Photos
Donna Karan with Stephan Weiss, her husband and DKI co-founder, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1985.  
A model wearing a crewneck sweater and a sarong draped gray cashmere skirt in the first Donna Karan show, 1985.   Photo: AP1985
A model wearing a ribbed turtleneck bodysuit with a Merino wool cowl and a twill skirt in the fall 1987 Donna Karan show.  Photo: Toronto Star
Anna Wintour, Carolyne Roehm, and Donna Karan at a 7th on Sale AIDS research benefit in 1990.  
Cindy Crawford modeling in the spring 1991 Donna Karan show. 
Donna Karan backstage.   Photo: Toronto Star
Tyra Banks modeling in a fall Donna Karan presentation at Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills, 1992. 
The 1992 "In Women We Trust" campaign, which depicted a woman becoming president.   Photo: Peter Lindbergh
The 1992 "In Women We Trust" campaign, which depicted a woman becoming president.   Photo: Peter Lindbergh
The 1992 "In Women We Trust" campaign, which depicted a woman becoming president.   Photo: Peter Lindbergh
The 1992 "In Women We Trust" campaign, which depicted a woman becoming president.   Photo: Peter Lindbergh
Hillary Clinton in Donna Karan at the Clintons' first state dinner in 1993.   Photo: © STR New / Reuters
Shalom Harlow modeling in the fall 1994 DKNY show.  Photo: 1994 Ron Galella, Ltd.
Veronica Webb modeling in the fall 1994 Donna Karan show.  Photo: 1994 Ron Galella, Ltd.
Kate Moss modeling in the fall 1994 Donna Karan show. 
Linda Evangelista modeling in the fall 1994 Donna Karan show. 
Isabella Rossellini modeling a satin and lace nightgown in the fall 1994 Donna Karan show.  Photo: 2011 AFP
Sofia Coppola modeling in the fall 1994 Donna Karan show. 
Donna Karan and Veruschka at her fall 1994 New York Fashion Week show. 
Shalom Harlow modeling in the spring 1996 Donna Karan show.   Photo: © Corbis. All Rights Reserved.
Donna Karan on the cover of the May 6, 1996 New York magazine.  
A model in the fall 1997 D by DKNY show in New York.  
The runway of the fall 2001 Donna Karan show.   Photo: 2000/Daily News, L.P. (New York)
Donna Karan shot by Chuck Close in the fall 2004 fashion issue of New York magazine.   Photo: Chuck Close/New York Magazine
Barbra Streisand in a Donna Karan dress at the 2013 Academy Awards, where she sang "The Way We Were."  Photo: Craig Sjodin/2013 America... Barbra Streisand in a Donna Karan dress at the 2013 Academy Awards, where she sang "The Way We Were."  Photo: Craig Sjodin/2013 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
The Donna Karan 30th Anniversary show, dedicated to New York and shown at the fall 2014 New York Fashion Week.   Photo: 2014 Getty Images
Michelle Obama in a spring 2015 Donna Karan with her daughter Sasha in Italy, June 2015.   Photo: Awakening/2015 Awakening
1 / 27

Tags:

  • donna karan
  • fashions
  • dkny
  • rosemary mcgrotha
  • looking back
  • More

More Galleries

Jan. 10, 2023
All the Looks From the 2023 Golden Globes  Sheryl Lee Ralph, Jenna Ortega, Jessica Chastain, Julia Garner, Jeremy Allen White, Angela Bassett, and more. 
parties! Sept. 23, 2022
Katie Holmes, Chloë Sevigny, and More of the Bestest Party Pics This Week  Chanel, Mejuri, and more celebrate. 
parties! Sept. 16, 2022
Doja Cat, Lil Nas X, and More of the Bestest Party Pics This Week  Fendi, Frame, and Coach all celebrated NYFW. 
emmys 2022 Sept. 12, 2022
Emmys 2022: All the Red Carpet Looks  Updating: What Hollywood is wearing to the 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards. 
By Olivia Luppino
nyfw spring 2023 Sept. 9, 2022
Gigi Hadid, Chlöe Bailey, and More of the Bestest Party Pics of the Week  Saks Fifth Avenue, Longchamp, and more celebrate the beginning of NYFW. 
rip Sept. 9, 2022
The Queen Sure Did Love to Color-Coordinate  Monochrome for decades. 
red carpet Sept. 6, 2022
The Venice Film Festival Is a Major Fashion Event  Valentino and Gucci and Armani, oh my. 
red carpet June 5, 2022
All the Best Looks at the 2022 MTV Movie and TV Awards  Sydney Sweeney, Vanessa Hudgens, Jay Ellis, and more! 
parties! May 20, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  Harry Styles > everyone! 
parties! May 13, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  Bury me in Dove Cameron’s Saint Sintra skirt. 
parties! May 6, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  Cue the Met Gala after-party FOMO. 
met gala 2022 May 2, 2022
Met Gala 2022: All the Looks [Photos]  Billie Eilish, Kim Kardashian, Michelle Yeoh, Hailey Bieber, Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, Blake Lively, and more. 
parties! Apr. 29, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  This one goes to Olivia Rodrigo and her sweater vest. 
parties! Apr. 22, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  “Fuck those Zoom tops.” 
celebrity style Apr. 18, 2022
The Best Looks From Coachella 2022  From Harry Styles’s sparkling Gucci set to Megan Thee Stallion’s metallic bodysuit. 
style Apr. 13, 2022
A Look Inside the New Museum’s Spring Gala  Featuring all the best looks. 
grammys 2022 Apr. 3, 2022
Grammy Awards 2022 Red Carpet: All the Looks  Lady Gaga, Olivia Rodrigo, Lenny Kravitz, Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, and more. 
oscars 2022 Mar. 28, 2022
How Were The Oscars After Party Looks Better Than The Actual Award Looks?  Finally, some fun. 
oscars 2022 Mar. 27, 2022
All the Looks From the 2022 Oscars Red Carpet  Zendaya, Regina Hall, Timothée Chalamet, Andrew Garfield, Kristen Stewart, Ariana DeBose, and more. 
style Mar. 22, 2022
Bridgerton Season 2 Premiere: All the Red-Carpet Looks 
  • Style
  • Self
  • Culture
  • Power
  • About The Cut
  • About New York Magazine
  • Newsletters
  • Help
  • Contact
  • Press
  • Media Kit
  • We’re Hiring
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Ad Choices
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Accessibility
The Cut is a Vox Media Network. © 2023 Vox Media, LLC. All rights reserved.