After being fired, she chose to "turn back"
Donna Karen is definitely a talented girl. Fortunately, she has not been buried. However, this is not the favor of the God of Destiny. Everything depends on Karen himself. Just like her colorful life, everything is under her control. At the age of 26, Karen had become the chief designer of Anne Klein, which had fired her.
It can be said that Karen grew up in the New York fashion circle since she was a child. Her biological father was a tailor who died in a car accident when she was three years old. Karen's mother later remarried a wealthy clothing dealer. When she was 14 years old, Karen lied about her age and got a job as a salesperson in a clothing store. From then on, she had an indissoluble bond with fashion.
When she was in high school, Karen worked as a part-time fashion model because of her impressive figure, and dreamed of becoming a fashion designer one day. After graduating from high school, Karen entered the famous Parsons School of Fashion Design in New York to study design. During her sophomore year, Karen found a design drawing job at Anne Klein. The owner of Anne Klein, Anne Klein, was one of the first designers to advocate casual wear in the United States and enjoyed a high reputation in the United States at that time. Due to her passion for work, Karen later dropped out of school to work full-time at Anne Klein. However, she was fired after eight months, reportedly because she was "not mature enough."
After leaving Anne Klein, Karen immediately found a job in another clothing company. Over the next year and a half, Karen matured and rose to prominence. When Karen wanted to leave that company, many fashion companies extended invitations to her, but she declined them all. Karen dialed Anne Klein's phone number directly and asked to return to Anne Klein. This time, Karen finally got Klein's approval and returned to serve as her assistant again.
In March 1974, Anne Klein passed away, and the Anne Klein board of directors officially appointed Donna Karen, who was only 26 years old at the time, as Anne Klein's successor. Karen took over the responsibility of chief designer as the designated heir. Although he is only 26 years old, Karen already has 12 years of independent experience and perseverance in the clothing industry. After a long period of full investment, when the music of her first solo press conference sounded, Karen couldn't help but feel emotional behind the scenes for everything that had come and was to come. She even covered her face and cried. The entire press conference lasted 40 minutes. She knew I knew she would be a hit.
Africa is a dream, New York is a destination
From the moment she set foot in Africa, Donna Karen’s heart began to wander. For the first time in her life, she felt that she no longer missed New York. I would like to go back to the noisy and bustling city again. Just imagine what it would be like if the design of any season was messed up. The sky would fall. Even African hippos seem happier than Americans.
Donna Karen spent three full weeks in Botswana and Kenya, spending her days with zebras, elephants, hippos, deserts and the Maasai people. The Maasai people, who live by nomadic hunting, still live a primitive life, wearing no clothes and scratching stones to make fire. The only thing that has anything to do with modern society is that they now live in simple mud houses. They have no needs, no desires, and don't even know their own age. They live in groups and only think about survival, mutual help and giving. But they were happy, a pure joy. Karen knew she would never have that kind of happiness, and neither did anyone in New York.
After the plane crossed the vast Pacific Ocean, Karen returned to her home in East Hampton. She sat in the screening room, looking at a slideshow of 4,000 photos she took in Africa, recalling the beauty and simplicity of that distant continent. There was a stack of Karen's favorite Women's Wear Daily in the living room, waiting for her to peruse. Karen suddenly discovered that she had returned to reality from her dream, and that this was her destination. After all, New York was the place where she had grown up for 55 years.
Maybe you don’t know Donna Karan, but you have at least heard of DKNY, the sunrise brand most sought after by the young generation at the end of the last century. These two fashion brands that have influenced American life come from Donna Karen, a passionate and sexual American woman. She is known as one of the "three major American designers" along with Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren.
In 2001, Donna Karan sold the high-end women's clothing brand she founded to Louis Vuitton-Hennessy Group (LVMH) for US$643 million. Karen's beloved husband and long-time business partner Stephen Weiss also passed away that same year after a years-long battle with lung cancer.
Nowadays, Donna Karen spends more time enjoying life at home, or embarks on travel to find freshness and excitement. In addition to practicing yoga quietly, she usually takes care of her granddaughter, undergoes beauty treatments and plastic surgery, eats whole grains and vegetarian food, and lives a healthy and fulfilling life. Of course, as Donna Karan's chief designer, she is still involved in clothing design.
Tall and with charming green eyes, 55 years old is just an age label for Donna Karen in front of her. She said she couldn't bear the loneliness, so she found a model boyfriend to keep her company. What should be lost will eventually be lost. Life continues and will become more and more beautiful.
A shrewd and ambitious woman
Karen likes to smoke unfiltered Pall Mall cigarettes. When she was at Anne Klein, she would often smoke With a cigarette in his mouth, he took off his clothes and tried on the newly made sample clothes in front of everyone.
Everyone who knew Donna Cullen considered her a "shrewd and ambitious woman," but no one disliked her for it. On the contrary, everyone who interacted with Karen was impressed by her directness, sincerity and candor.
In 1984, Karen stepped down from Anne Klein to establish her own company and the fashion brand Donna Karan named after her. Donna Karan targets mature, noble, sexy and confident urban women, and launches comfortable high-end women's clothing that can perfectly express women's curves. After entering the market, it was immediately praised wildly. Karen began to officially establish her status as "America's Fashion Queen."
In the mid-to-late 1980s, everything about Donna Karen became a topic of conversation among Americans: she was a tireless workaholic, enthusiastic about charity, rich in emotion, and easily excited. , he judged himself without any scruple during the interview.
Karen’s attention to detail in clothing is almost obsessive. At the fabric fair, Karen would carefully study every piece of cloth that interested her, sitting at the stall staring at the piece of cloth for twenty or thirty minutes. Karen is not good at drawing designs, but she is able to convey her design intentions to her assistants very clearly and accurately. In this regard, Karen is quite like Italian female designer Miuccia Prada.
Karen has a very close relationship with her subordinates, many of whom have followed her for years. Three years ago, when LVHM acquired Donna Karan, Karan wrote in black and white in the contract: LVHM shall not fire any of her employees without her consent.
DKNY continues to write New York complex
Karen was born in Long Island, New York, and has a special understanding of this world metropolis. She loves this city and pays special attention to the lives of the people around her. Whether they are passers-by on the street, white-collar workers in the office or friends around her, she cares about their mentality, their lifestyle and their rhythm of life. Everything she looks at will become her design. A source of inspiration.
Black is Donna Karan’s eternal main color. Donna Karen's love for black is reflected in her design philosophy of pursuing comfort and paying attention to texture. From black tights, black sweaters, black dresses to black tea sets, her strong color tendency can be seen.
Black integrates her understanding and perception of fast-paced metropolitan life, and is consistent with her original intention to create world-class fashion that is both unpretentious and noble.
Just after Donna Karan broke out of New York, conquered the United States, and entered the world market, Donna Karan launched her own second-tier brand Donna Karan NewYork, referred to as DKNY. DKNY can be said to be the sunrise brand most sought after by the young generation at the end of the century, and its reputation even exceeds that of its genuine Donna Karan. DKNY was actually created by Donna Karen for her maturing daughter Gabby, and was officially launched in 1988.
Influenced by Gabby’s lifestyle, Donna Karen integrated the independent and free spirit of New York into DKNY’s designs, gradually evolving into a young representative of international urban style in the fashion industry. DKNY is designed to meet the public's work and life needs. The colors, styles, structural proportions, etc. of its clothing are unique and are especially loved by young people.
The thick and big DKNY trademark not only appears on cloth labels, but is often used as a pattern on clothes, like a spiritual symbol.
Either in love or married
Karen has been married twice, and her current boyfriend is a male model who is almost 20 years younger than herself. If you judge her as a "playful carrot" because of this, you are wrong. Karen is the kind of woman who would give her all for the one she loves deeply, and she does.
In 1983, Karen married sculptor Stephen Weiss. Before that, Karen had a brief marriage with her first boyfriend, Mark Karen, and gave birth to their only daughter, Gabby. Karen’s daughter Gabby is now grown and married to an Alitalia pilot, with whom she has an adorable toddler daughter. Karen often gets together with her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter, and the family enjoys family happiness.
Karen said that she had loved two men in her life, "either in love or in marriage." She couldn't stand the days without anyone's company and care. So now she has found a new boyfriend for herself.
Karen’s beloved husband, Wes, battled lung cancer for seven years and had three major surgeries due to recurring illness. As Wes lay dying, Karen looked for ways to make her husband's dream come true. In addition to sculpting, Wes enjoyed racing cars and collecting art. Karen first gave Wes a Ducati (Italian racing car), then a Lamborghini, and she even found works by Wes's most admired artist, Francis Bacon. In order to commemorate Wes, Karen successfully lobbied the government to place one of Wes's works, a three-ton apple, on the West Side Highway. She also planned to build a 10,000-square-foot building on Greenwich Street where Wes lived. The studio becomes an exhibition center.
Karen enshrines an Indian Buddhist deity in her yoga studio, and a black-and-white photo of Wes hangs next to it. Karen believes in karma, and the cycle of life and death is like the transition between black and white. The day Karen's husband Wes, Karen's mother and former boss Anne Klein died happened to be the day Karen launched her new clothing.
Karen started practicing yoga at the age of 18 and is already an advanced yoga practitioner today. She believes that yoga exercises can relax the mind and body and provide insight into the future. Karen now spends at least a few hours every day practicing diligently. Demi Moore and Moore's boyfriend Ashton Kutcher are both her yoga partners.
55-year-old Karen now pays great attention to healthy living. She now eats whole grains and vegetarian food on a regular basis, and when traveling, she must have vegetable juice prepared by a servant in the car. Every time before she enters the door, the servants must light candles and play soft music, so that when she returns home, she will feel like she is in a carefree paradise. In her East Hampton home, Karen’s yoga studio is connected to a massive bathroom. The entire bathroom is made of Jerusalem limestone, with a deep and large Jacuzzi and a massage slate.
In addition to the property in East Hamton, Karen also owns a 7,000-square-foot luxury apartment in West Central Park. The apartment is dominated by Karen's favorite black color and also has a yoga room.
Karen's two houses in Springs are both in rich or light tan tones and have an unpretentious design style. In addition, Karen also owns properties in Parrot Island, Türkiye, Caicos Islands in Latin America and other places.
Vacations around the world are an important part of Donna Karan's life right now. After returning from Africa, Karen immediately wanted to go to San Francisco and Big Sur, or go to Los Angeles to visit Barbra Streisand, or go to the Island of the Sun to find old friends... Now, Karen is planning a winter vacation. This time she Hopefully the vacation will consist of skiing and yoga. A few years ago, Karen took a helicopter to the Isla del Sol to go skiing, along with current US Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Due to a skiing accident, Karen and her group were trapped on the mountain for several hours. She also seriously injured her knee and was rescued by a helicopter.
However, in recent months, there have been rumors that LVHM intends to sell off Donna Karan, and Karan’s position as chief designer may not be guaranteed. But Karen responded with certainty that she would never leave the fashion design industry and that she was "already addicted" to fashion.
In fact, in addition to designing fashion, Karen has many other dreams. She is also interested in photography and writing, but she most wants to open a yoga fitness and rehabilitation center, and hopes to build it into a A high-grade place that can fully reflect your own style, including meaning, creativity and culture. Whatever Karen wants to do will work, no one doubts that.