WHERE IT NOW | #NYFW Runway Review: There is a three dimensional beauty to each architecturally crafted piece of fashion sculpture yet it remains easy to wear & always elegant
It’s almost hard to believe that the Donna Karan label is turning 25. Then again it is almost more impossible to think that there ever was modern fashion before Donna Karan.
Donna Karan was able to reinvent women’s fashion in a manner that made a woman of any age look modern, polished, and stylish in a way that let’s you know that ‘she’ has arrived. Her pieces endure fads and trends are like stunning old friends that you want to revisit time and time again in your wardrobe, perhaps by wearing them in a different mix but never tiring of them.
>> Donna Karan Fall 2010 Fashion Show Photos
The longevity of the Donna Karan style is that the pieces are constructed impeccably yet still easy to wear, and always flattering to a woman’s body. Her notes tell the start of the story…
The sculpted skirt at Donna Karan fall 2010
25 YEARS AGO, WE STARTED WITH A CITY, A BODYSUIT, A PAIR OF TIGHTS AND THE POWER OF A WOMAN.
FROM THERE, IT HAPPENED, DAY INTO NIGHT.
FOREVER IN BLACK.
The fall 2010 Donna Karan Collection, which she calls Forever Black, adds texture as the new dimension to her sculpted tailoring and draped dresses which continue to begin with a simple foundation piece and build from there.
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There is a three dimensional beauty to each architecturally crafted garment that photos do no justice.
Enticed by every styled angle that the garment shape takes, your eyes follow the model full circle, as the fashion sculpture moves by you on the runway. What you are watching is a master of design and its execution that many younger designers should take note before they send out complicated pieces on the runway.
The Donna Karan system is based on a foundation that’s body skimming, whether a dress, top, or legging pants. From there the mastery is built-upon with sculpted pieces. The weightless wool curve-collared cocoon coat or jacket and sculpted skirts are the signature silhouettes of this collection. The play of textures and fabrics in combination with flawlessly designed accessories down to the sculpted bootie complete the look.
On a personal note, the Donna Karan Collection is rather sentimental for me. Growing up, I was only able to win my mother’s style approval if I wore Calvin Klein or Ralph Lauren. It was not until Donna Karan launched her own line that my mother praised another contemporary American designer. Twenty-five years later this all doesn’t seem so farfetched. Happy anniversary Donna Karan!
>> More photos of the collection
Photos, this page only, Donna Karan
Originally Published on February 19, 2010