Donna Karan
Fashion Designer Donna
Karan was born 1949, in Queens, New York. She grew up in
Long Island with her step-father who was a tailor and her mother who was a
model. Being trained at Parson's School of Design, she entered the busines
herself, designing for Anne Klein. Eventually she became head of the Anne Klein
design-team and remained in this position until 1984.
In 1985, she left Anne Klein and founded her own company. At first she became
known for her line of elastic bodies. Then word spread about her Essentials
line, offering seven easy pieces every woman should have in her closet. The
Essentials line became a success and the seven pieces were broadened to about
200 pieces today.
The introduction of her DKNY
collection in 1988 marks the beginning of a period of amazing growth of the
company. Thought of as a bridge collection, DKNY has developed
to be the pillar of the Donna Karan business. DKNY is a modern,
moderately-priced young collection, drawing from the spirit of big city life.
Donna Karan is known to support the needs of modern women with her clothing.
When designing her clothes, Donna Karan claims not have the top model in mind,
but women like herself. The saying goes, that before the production of a piece
of clothes is approved by Karan, it has to look good on her. It seems, that with
Donna Karan clothing, function comes before styling.
Until recently, Donna Karan's husband Stephan Weiss shared responsibilities
with his wife at the top of the company. First and foremost, the trained
sculpturor Weiss was in charge of Donna Karan cosmetics. But by the end of 1995,
Weiss resigned from his duties in order to concentrate more on his art. In
mid-1997 Donna Karan herself followed her husband's resignation, backing off
from the position as CEO of the company. Donna Karan remains in the company as
chaiwoman and designer in charge. John Idol, who used to be with the Polo
Ralph Lauren Corporation is now Chief Executive Officer of
the company.
Donna Karan is said to have an interest in Eastern philosophy and meditation,
which is reflected in the simplicity of her designs, as some say. One of her
three children is her teenage duaghter Gabby, who is reported to be the main
inspiration for her DKNY-line. Donna Karan is a close friend to
many celebraties, like Barbara Streisand for instance. In her book "Modern
Souls" which was published for the 10th anniversary of Donna
Karan New York, she asked photographer Herb Ritts to portray some of
her friends.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Selected Products
* Donna Karan Essentials,
now Donna Karan Signature
* Donna Karan Signature "Gold Label"
* Donna
Karan Collection
* Donna Karan Intimates
* Donna Karan Kids
* D by
DKNY
* DKNY Denims
* DKNY Classics
* DKNY Active
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Economic Data
Ownership
Until recently, the Donna
Karan Corp. was owned by Donna Karan herself, her husband Stephan Weiss and
Takihyo Ltd. The latter is the owner of Anne Klein and is represented by the
Japanese business men Frank Mori and Tamio Taki. After much rumour and many
postponements Donna Karan International went public in June 1996. An ealier
attempt failed due to quality problems that arised during that
time.
Performance
The enormous success of the Donna Karan Corp. is
equalled in the sales figures of the company. Sales rose up to $510.1 million in
1995 from $196.6 in 1991. DKNY contributes 54% of the sales. Donna Karan couture
is responsible for 15% of sales and the rest stems from men's clothing,
accessories and other products. 31% of sales are made in exports. The DKNY
boutique in London is reported to account for $10 million in sales in 1995
alone. In the second quarter of 1997, a loss of $14.7 million was reported which
led ultimately to the resignation of Donna Karan as CEO and the former Chief
Financial Officer Stephen L. Ruzow. The Donna Karan stock price plunged from $24
at issue in mid-1996 down to $9 in mid-1997.
Distribution
37% of total
sales alone are achieved with the big American retail chains and New York
department stores like Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Ave., Nordstrom's, Macy's, and
Bloomingdales. But Donna Karan plans to expand its distribution
net by adding more franchise boutiques, especially for the DKNY-collection.
There was much talk about the difficulties Donna Karan has to find a
location for a flagship-store in the home market New York. In London, Karan has
opened such a location for DKNY last year and is working on another for the
couture lines.
The European DKNY business suffered due to quality problems
in the early ninties. There were complaints about the quality of the fabrics,
incomplete shippings, and the like. Therefore, a new distribution center was
established in Amsterdam, Netherlands, trying to enhance customer services. To
be closer to the European market Karan planned to show in Milan, Italy in Spring
1996, but backed off again for oraganizational reasons.
Recently, Donna Karan introduced the Donna Karan Kids line. An earlier
attempt with children's clothes in 1992 didn't find enough attention. The
failure was blamed on too high prices and the lack of a competent partner. This
time the French kid's wear specialist Albert S.A., Les Herbiers has the license
for the line. There was also news that Donna Karan signed a license agreement
with Designer Holdings Ltd. for the design, production, and distribution of DKNY
Jeanswear. Interestingly, competition with Calvin Klein Jeanswear - which is
also in the hands of Desinger Holdings Ltd. - is supposed to be avoided by
positioning the DKNY products in a much higher price range. In early 1997, news
broke, that business with Designer Holdings was stopped, due to disagreement
what the range of licensed products is. The DKNY jeanswear, which contributed up
to half of total Donna Karan sales, will now be developed and
marketed by the Donna Karan Corp. itself.
It has been announced that the DKNY line will be segmented
differently. Next to the old "DKNY" line there will be a "D by DKNY" line
offering more expensive and more fashionable products. And "DKNY Jeanswear" will
be subdivided in three collections aiming at different life-styles.
Next to clothing Donna Karan has licenses for the production of socks, shoes,
eyewear and patterns. Recently Donna Karan introduced a collection of home
accessories inspired by the Asian teravels of the designer. In mid-1997, it was
announced that there will be Donna Karan coffee blends will sold by the canadian
coffe retailer Timothy's World Coffee.
Fashion leviathan LVMH bought the majority of Donna Karan in November 2001,
although Karan still remains in creative control of the company's fashion lines.
|
