13 Facts About Donna Karan

1.

Donna Karan, known as DK, is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels.

2.

Donna Karan's mother had been a model and had worked in designer Chester Weinberg's showroom.

3.

Donna Karan's father was a tailor and haberdasher who died when Donna was three years old.

4.

Donna Karan took pleasure in softball, volleyball, and basketball, cut classes in high school, and passed much of her time in the art department.

5.

Donna Karan graduated from Hewlett High School in 1966, and then went to the Parsons School of Design.

6.

Donna Karan began her career as an assistant designer with Anne Klein in the late 1960s, where she was promoted to associate designer in 1971.

7.

In 1984, Donna Karan left Anne Klein and, together with her then husband Stephan Weiss and Takihyo Corporation, started her own business "to design modern clothes for modern people".

8.

Donna Karan showed her first women's clothing collection in 1985.

9.

Donna Karan became well known for her 'Essentials' line, initially offering seven easy pieces centered around the bodysuit which could all be mixed and matched, and created a fully integrated wardrobe with her First Collection in 1985.

10.

Donna Karan always insisted that she would design only clothes like jersey dresses and opaque Lycra tights that she would wear herself.

11.

In 1992, Donna Karan released her "cold shoulder" dress, a jersey long-sleeved dress which featured deep cutouts at the shoulders to reveal the skin beneath.

12.

In 2015, Donna Karan announced that she would be stepping down as head of her eponymous company to focus on her lifestyle brand, Urban Zen, established by Karan in 2007.

13.

In 1976, Donna Faske married Mark Karan, with whom she had a daughter, Gabby Karan De Felice.