Donna Karan was born Donna Faske
in Forest Hills, New York on October 2, 1948. Both her parents were
involved in fashion careers, so it seemed inevitable that Donna should
follow their footsteps. She was still a student at Parsons School of
Design in New York when Anne Klein hired her for summer a job.
From 1967-1968 she was Assistant
Designer for Anne Klein & Co, and the Addenda Co, NY. In 1968-1971
she was a Designer for Anne Klein & Co. In 1973 she married Mark
Karan with whom she had a daughter named Gabrielle. (They would get
a divorce later and Donna Karan would marry Stephen Weiss in 1977.)
With the death of Anne Klein
in 1974, Donna Karan was named her successor. A year later, Louis Dell'Olio
would join the company, and together they would be Director of Design
for Anne Klein & Co.
Shortly after the launch of
Anne Klein II (the diffusion line) left Anne Klein and together with
her husband Stephen Weis, they formed Donna Karan New York (DKNY) and
launched the first Donna Karan collection in 1985. From there, they
would expand to a full fashion items line. In December 2000, LVMH announced
its intention to buy a controlling share in DKNY. As of this writing
(January 2001), the deal has not been finalized, pending review by the
Board of Directors of DKNY.
