New York Fashion Week: After 25 years in the business, Donna Karan’s line is more boardroom exec than ladder climber

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Donna Karan presented a collection that was largely a study in black, focusing on texture and volume to bring out the richness.

Karan was celebrating 25 years in business, and although there were small references to the women’s wardrobe solutions that she made her name on, otherwise known as her seven easy pieces (draped matte jersey dresses and body suits), Karan has changed since then.
She’s matured into a yoga-toned, jet-setting mogul, and you’d be more likely to find real wardrobe solutions in her lower-priced DKNY line.

Now, Karan has more in common with the stars in her front row (Demi Moore, Brooke Shields and Susan Sarandon), than the working girl trying to climb the corporate ladder.

So it’s only natural that her collection would reflect her cushier circumstances. For fall, the real news in her collection was that she elevated the coat to an art form, with cocoon shapes in textured wool, wool lace, brocade and stiff, industrial matelasse. Another version, in salt ‘n’ pepper tweed, had curve-tracing seams.

Evening looks came in molten satin, with architectural folds defining the bodice -- clothes for women who, like Donna, have nothing to prove.

-- Booth Moore in New York

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