Donna Karan

Best Dressed

Best Dressed: Liv Tyler in Proenza Schouler, Emma Watson in Marchesa and More

By Alaina Hernandez Friday, Jun 10, 2011 / 7:00 PM


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Fashion Is Fun

Have A Stylish Hanukkah!

By Elizabeth Jaime Thursday, Dec 2, 2010 / 7:00 PM

Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: PETA Crashes Donna Karan, Test Driving “Majeggings” and Behind the Scenes With Kim and Alexa

Michelle Obama’s PETA Moment: Donna Karan hosted a cocktail hour/fundraiser at her Central Park West penthouse yesterday, which was attended by a slew New York designers and Michelle Obama, all of whom were greeted by PETA members protesting Karan’s use of fur. {WWD}

Kim’s Screen Test: We all know Kim Kardashian was naked in W, but you might not know that Kim and Kourtney used to play a game where Kourtney was Donna Karan and Kim was her tortured assistant. Also, if she wasn’t doing…whatever it is she does now, she would want to be in fashion or crime scene investigator. All this and more in an intimate interview with Lynn Hirschberg. {W}

Oh Ma Jeggings: In an important experiment, writer Joshua David Stein went to Uniqlo to purchase and test the wearability of “majeggings,” or, jeggings for men. Hilarity ensues. {Racked}

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Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: Bing Partners With The Row, Florio to IMG, and Donna Karan’s New Online Digs

From Zoe to The Row: Every time one of those weird Bing “commercials” came on during the Rachel Zoe Project, we couldn’t help but think, “Why is Microsoft trying so hard to make Bing happen and why are they targeting Rachel Zoe’s audience?” Now, they’re tapping into another fashion brand–The Row. In an exclusive partnership, Bing.com will air coverage of their SS2011 collection in two “short films.” A teaser is up now. According to a press release, this collab makes sense because, “Bing and The Row share a commitment to visual beauty which combine for a unique partnership.” Okay, Bing. {Bing.com}

Tom Florio to IMG: Tom Florio left his publishing position at Condé Nast over three months ago and we’ve all been wondering what his next job would be. Turns out, IMG created one for him. The company announced today Florio’s appointment as senior advisor for fashion to the office of the chairman, effective October 1. {Daily Front Row}

Awkward Next Top Model: On Monday night’s live finale of Australia’s Next Top Model, host Sarah Murdoch announced the wrong winner, only to find out through her earpiece and correct herself after Kelsey made her heartfelt acceptance speech. Awkward. However, all is not lost for Kelsey. Because of the mistake and closeness of the votes, both her and Amanda (the real winner) won the grand prize which is $25,000, a trip to NYC and a Harper’s Bazaar cover. {DDG Daily}

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Shopping

Fashion’s Night Out: Where The Major Designers Will Be

Fashion’s Night Out is two weeks from tomorrow! There is more going on than we can even wrap our heads around. Having trouble deciding where you want to go and who you want to see the most?

Well, if you’re interested in catching a peak of one of your favorite designers, here’s a roundup of where some of the biggest and the best will be on September 10. We’ve excluded most of the people we’ve already reported on. Also, it’s almost safe to say that if someone isn’t on this list, they will probably be at Barneys.

Michael Kors
Michael will be at his lifestyle store on Madison and 61st in New York City. He will be joined by TONY Award winner Idina Menzel, whom Michael will accompany on a selection of songs. Michael will also make an appearance nearby at Bloomingdale’s 59th street, where the “World of Michael” will be created to kick off a new Michael Kors handbag shop-in-shop.

Tommy Hilfiger
Tommy will be kicking off FNO and his brand’s 25th anniversary at Macy’s Herald Square. As we’ve reported, Macy’s will house “The Ultimate Tailgate Party” as inspired by Tommy’s most recent ad campaign. Tommy will be accompanied by Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren. He will also make an appearance at his Fifth Avenue store, where shoppers can have their purchases personalized with an exploding monogram while they shop, listen to DJ Toddlerone and drink up.

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Fashion Shows

Mayor Bloomberg Talks Fashion’s Night Out While Anna Wintour, Mary-Kate Olsen, and Other CFDA Members Stand There

After living here for a while, you sometimes forget how many amazing people live and work in New York City. When we walked into City Hall for the Fashion’s Night Out kick-off press conference today, we went through security with Lisa Mayock from Vena Cava.

Then, we saw Anna Wintour walking ahead of us and Alex Wang suddenly appeared behind us. A few minutes later Marc Jacobs, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez walked in. After we were seated inside the press conference room, the following people (in addition to the aforementioned) surrounded the podium: Prabal Gurung, Zac Posen, Phillip Lim, Tracy Reese, Kenneth Cole, Donna Karan, Carolina Herrera, Tommy Hilfiger, Thakoon Panichgul, Marcus Wainwright from Rag & Bone, Francisco Costa, Vera Wang, Tory Burch, Steven Kolb, Linda Fargo, the Mayor…and after a few moments, we noticed tiny Mary-Kate Olsen peeking her head out behind Marc.

Then, unfortunately, we died and are thus unable to report anything else about Fashion’s Night Out.

Just kidding – sort of.

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Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: Grast’s Subway Store, J.C. Penney Ups Its Game & More

Going Underground: Graphic-guru Grast announces its plans to open up shop in a very unlikely location–the Port Authority subway station. {Refinery 29}

A Pretty Penney: J.C. Penney’s collab with Mango hits stores August 18th. {Wall Street Journal}

Independent Woman: Donna Karan plans to lead a fashion show at the first-annual Women: Inspiration and Enterprise Symposium in New York, a one-day event covering topics from childbirth to the business world. The best part? All proceeds will go toward the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood. {Vogue UK}

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The Business

Woohoo! LVMH Sales Are Up, Like, A Lot

The reason conglomerates exist is so that when one area of the business is slowing, the others are hopefully growing.

For LVMH, 2010 is proving to be a good year for not just a few, but all of its subsidiaries.

Sales over the first half of 2010 totaled €9.1 billion, or about $11.8 billion, a 16% jump from the first half of 2009. Everything from wine and spirits to Louis Vuitton to Sephora to Donna Karan are performing well everywhere from the US to Asia. What’s more, profits were up by a whopping 33% to €1.8 million, or around $2.3 million.

With things looking this good, expect LVMH to do some buying and selling come August. Big luxury brands tend to do the deals at the end of summer–probably because Europe is on vacation, which means less snooping around by the press. So while PPR’s vie for Burberry could be the biggest deal of the year, except something interesting from LVMH, too. Indeed, luxury brands are really killing it this year.

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Fashion Careers

Ten Investors Who Take Chances on Smaller Fashion Labels

Another question the Fashionista team is often asked, mostly by design students: “What does it take to launch my own label?”

Well, it takes a lot of hard work, talent, and yes…money.

The big problem: There aren’t a ton of investors willing to put down cash on a new designer. As one serial investor once explained to me, “Fashion is a risky business. But it’s not as sexy as film. Sometimes, people are lured by the glamor, but in general, the return on investment is so unlikely, most aren’t willing to take the risk.” In the movies, on the other hand, investors will still probably get to hang out with the star–even if the film doesn’t make any real bank.

So what’s a young designer to do? Working for a bigger label is always an option. Adam Lippes worked at Polo Ralph Lauren for years before launching his own label. Chris Benz worked at J.Crew. Richard Chai worked at Marc Jacobs and Donna Karan.

Loans from friends and family always help, but we understand that’s not viable for most.

Another way to do it? Get one of the few investors who do spend money on younger brands to notice you. Now, we’re not advocating knocking down these people’s doors. And you’re probably going to have to come up with your own money to establish the company initially. But doing good work and networking should get you closer to your goal. Here are 10 companies/people known for investing in younger brands.

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Events

CFDA Awards: Who Won, Who Didn’t and Who Made My Day

Tonight at the CFDA Awards, actor Anthony Mackie said that the event really is like the Oscars of fashion. As one of the few people in the crowd who has attended both ceremonies, he should know.

And it did seem like an abbreviated, less-hokey Academy Awards.

There were skits–Diddy starred in a short that introduced the menswear nominees–celebrity presenters–Isabella Rossellini, Jessica Biel–and even some heartfelt speeches.

Stay-tuned tomorrow for our round-up of the evening’s best-dressed. And now, the winners:

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Fashion Is Fun

Our CFDA Awards Dream Dresses

Lauren will be covering the CFDA Awards tonight (in DvF), and while we’ve already showed you some dress options under $1,000, we’re still dreaming about the designer outfits we wish we could wear.

So we’ve compiled our favorite CFDA-appropriate looks from AW10 and SS10; we’ve got it all from Marc Jacobs to A Piece Apart.

Click through for the best of American design.

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The CFDA Offers a Peek Inside the Homes of Jenna Lyons, Scott Sternberg, Donna Karan and More

For the fashionable voyeurs out there–and we know there are plenty–the CFDA is publishing a book that offers a glimpse into the homes of some of America’s greatest designers.

American Fashion Designers at Home, set to debut this September, features Donna Karan’s Parrot Cay getaway, Band of Outsiders designer Scott Sternberg’s Los Angeles living room, Diane von Furstenberg’s Cloudwalk estate in Connecticut, just to name a few.

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