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Donna Karan

By SARA TEMPLETON

The acronym DKNY is everywhere. There's few places across the globe which haven't been influenced in some small way by Donna Karan New York, her designs and her philosophy. Donna was the daughter of a fashion model, so you could say that from the very start she was destined to work in the fashion industry in some capacity.

October 2nd, born Donna Faske in a 1948 New York, Queens, both of Donna Karan's parents had some connection to the fashion world. While her mother Helen, as mentioned above, was a model, her father, Gabby, sold mens clothing from the family shopfront.

It was when Donna was in high school that she started experimenting with various materials and fashions, working for Liz Claiborne as helper during the American mid-year summer break. It was not long after this that she decided the fashion world was to be her world, and before long she was enrollde at the Parsons School of Design in New York. She even had the chance to work with Anne Klein while attending classes!

What followed was a stint with Anne Klein in 1967 and there was potential for her role at Klein to increase exponentially. She was promoted to associate designer in 1971 and when Anne Klein died in 1974, Karan was her heir apparent. But Donna Karan didn't want to do it alone, so she enlisted the help of an old school friend - Louis Dell'Olio - to partner her running the Klein company.

It was in 1984 that Karan, to the surprise of many, quit her dayjob as the Klein head-honcho. People thought she was mad, but no - not Donna.

She was an instant success. Her first designs under her own Donna Karan label we're given two thumbs up by not just the critics, but also women from all over the world. The new line was based on a bodysuit with which a plethora of different garments could be combined - such as blouses, pants, long skirts, short skirts and coats. The end result was a totally integrated wardrobe, that was neither overly bold, nor underly bland. She said she would create designs that she herself would wear, and perhaps that has been her greatest asset - humility.

The monkier DKNY was launched in 1988 and was charged as being one of the innovators for creating the 'bridge' line of clothing - a collection that the middle-class could afford, in essence.

Today there are some 10 DKNY stores dotted around the globe, with the first opening in New York, New York in the year 1999 on the corner of Madison Avenue and 60th.

Now the head of DKNY, Donna's company employs some 2000 fashion gurus and has an annual revenue of more $US600 million.

Now married to Stephen Weiss, an artist (sculptor), she has three children and is still going strong in her bid to mesmerise the world with attractive attire. Her current lines include the Donna Karan collection, DKNY Essentials, DKNY, DKNY Jeans, and DKNY Tech.

Many call Karan the chief inventor of affordable, classy, designer clothing and others will still regale you with stories of her 'power dressing' lines from the 80s, giving more power and, in a sense equality, to women. With such a far-reaching empire covering clothes, accessories, perfumes and menswear, Donna Karan is a name that will go down in the annals of fashion history as a messiah.