Donna Karan's World
Karan may have been mum on how much she pledged to the school for this initiative, but she left little else untouched. "For me it's all about the three F's: fashion, fantasy, and function," she said, to which Goldberger replied, "Hopefully, no more F's," referring to how she so famously failed draping while as a student at the school. "And typing too," Karan retorted.
From having just learned how to text message to admitting that sometimes she is embarrassed to be an American, below, highlights from Karan's witty and candid discussion with Goldberger:
On being fashion obsessed today:
"Forget the red carpet; it's overrated. For me, the sample room is where it all begins."
On her start:
"I didn't see the company as a fashion house," she admitted. "I just wanted to do T-shirts and black leggings and maybe one piece of nice jewelry."
On how the "NY" got into DKNY:
"I needed an anchor, and that's how New York happened. I always feel like I work in New York; I don't live in New York."
On the current state of clothing:
"Where's the dimension nowadays? That's what I would like to put back," and "I'm tried of vintage. I don't ever want to hear that word again." She also added, "All we've created are knockoffs. Sometimes I'm embarrassed to be an American."
On outsourcing employees (i.e. having her shoes made in Italy):
"America is McDonalds. Who cooks with [real] ingredients anymore?"
On inspiration from her own stores:
"I wish a lot more energy were coming into the store right now," she joked as a loose reference to the current financial status of her DKNY store on Madison Avenue and how it was meant to draw in the energy of the people on the street, whereas her Collection store was designed to be more visceral.
On her daughter, Gaby:
"If she goes out and wears Chloé, I get annoyed,"
On parent group LVMH:
"I don't like going to Turkey and seeing a DKNY in Turkey. Sometimes I think it's overload. The biggest problem is timing of the clothes in the store. Why do we have to buy summer clothes in winter? It's always this rush to see who can get it out first and the fastest. Fashion is moving at an unrealistic pace. I'd like for fashion to be for the consumer, not the press."
On showing in New York:
"The one thing I love most about Helmut Lang is that he pushed American fashion first," she said, referencing how Lang led the movement in moving New York Fashion Week to the beginning of the fashion cycle as opposed to following Milan and Paris.
JIM SHI
