Donna Karan Begins Again, Leaving DKI To Support Her Urban Zen Foundation

Donna Karan in her studio upstairs from Urban Zen, with works by her husband, Stephan Weiss, who died in 2001. She sold her company to LVMH that year, but she remains the creative director at Donna Karan and DKNY. Credit Elizabeth Lippman for The New York Times

Donna Karan, the founder and chief designer of Donna Karan Internation, a LVMH Moët HennesseyLouis Vuitton  company, announced today that she will be leaving the company. There are no plans to replace her, although Karan will have a contact as a adviser to DKI. The main Donna Karan collection is suspended indefinitely, and DKI will reorganize its teams and structure to “substantially increase its focus on the DKNY brand,” the company’s more accessible line, according to the announcement, reports The New York Times

It was a year ago in February 2014 that Donna Karan celebrated 30 years with her own label. At that time, the New York Timesquoted Karan as saying that she wished her relationship with LVMH was stronger but they gave her the cold shoulder.

The brand is certainly not the powerhouse it once was. Though the top line is still carried at Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s, once inextricably intertwined with Ms. Karan’s core customer, stopped carrying it about six months ago. (The chain still has a large selection of DKNY.) Anne Keating, a senior vice president, declined to comment on why the store decided to discontinue the Donna Karan brand.

Donna Karan and her husband Steven Weiss, who died of cancer at 62, sold their business to LVMH in 2000. Forbes May 2015 list of America’s richest self-made women estimated Karan’s wealth at $450 million, tying her in position #31 with Diane von Furstenberg.

The designer and creator of the Smart Sensuality woman’s day to evening wardrobe intends to devote more time to her Urban Zen Foundation. Forbes reports that Karan has been expanding a jewelry, clothing, decor and beauty collection, donating 10 percent of its proceeds to post-earthquake recovery in Haiti, among other causes.

Earlier in 2015 Donna Karan designed a bracelet in two versions, made in Haiti, to support Michael R. Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety. See Not One More.

Her retail venture, Urban Zen, in the West Village, which looks for crafts to market from the world over. Credit Elizabeth Lippman for The New York Times

Urban Zen