 | Donna KaranBorn:-10/02/1948US designer was a force to be reckoned with long before she launched her DKNY label in 1985. For years Donna Karan toiled alongside Louis Dell'Olio almost anonymously to make clothes that bore Anne Klein's name. But finally in April 1985, she showed her first collection under her own name. The label threw her into the fashion spotlight, and proved to be a resounding commercial success. Karan designed clothes based on the logical notion that other women might like to wear the same chic but comfortable things Donna herself favours. Her instinct was correct. In only a dozen years she built a US$600 million business, become one of the best known names in fashion in Europe and the US, and took her company public. Since that time, Donna Karan has twice been named Designer of the Year. DKNY began in 1989, when Karan noted a void in her own wardrobe, she could not find a pair of jeans made for a woman's body shape and here, she realised, was a market waiting to be tapped. She also wanted a vehicle to offer her 'fashion essentials' - cotton T-shirts and white shirts - all year round. Her teenage daughter often inspires new looks for DKNY, making the creations of the range a family affair. |   |