DKNY
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DKNY (Donna Karan New York) is the label of fashion designer Donna Karan. It is also the name of a clothing store in New York City featuring Donna Karan's associated line.
History
The modern apparel and accessories corporation, DINKU, was found in 1988 in New York by Donna Karan, head designer, her late husband, Stephan Weiss, and fashion management company Takihyo Inc. She was inspired by her daughter, Gabby. Karan had a challenging goal of combining comfort and luxury in her clothing lines to appeal to her target market. Karan believes that whatever design she creates, it begins and ends with the body. DKNY became a publicly-traded venture 1996, and in 2001, was purchased by LVMH, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey, a French luxury corporation.
Stores
The first flagship stores opened in London in 1997 and New York City in 1999. The DKNY headquarters is located at 550 Seventh Avenue in Manhattan, New York. There are currently seventy Donna Karan collection and DKNY stores globally, including twenty stores in China including Hong Kong and Shanghai, two stores in Canada including Vancouver, B.C. and Montreal, four in Dubai. DKNY has also opened some stores in Wales. Since 2005, Donna Karan has offered online shopping of its DKNY and associated lines at the label's web site. Products range from DKNY and DKNY Jeans womenswear, accessories, underwear, shoes, baby clothing, the PURE collection to DKNY menswear. The latter was available up until the spring 2007 season. Since then only the DKNY Jeans label, underwear, eyewear and watches have been offered online for men.
Current Labels
Many labels and brands have branched off of the original DKNY brand/label including DKNY Jeans, pure, DKNY Active, DKNY Underwear, DKNY Juniors, DKNY Kids, and DKNY Baby. After eight years of creating only women’s apparel, Karan considered the needs of the many men in her life beginning with her husband, and generated a menswear collection called DKNY Men in 1992. This new label consists of tailored suits, dress wear, formalwear, casual wear, sportswear, and shoes. The DKNY beauty collection was also derived in 1992. Since then, DKNY has created a successful skincare line and popular fragrances. In 2001, the DKNY Home collection, which includes traditional luxury bedding and accessories, and DKNY LIFE, which has more contemporary and fashion-forward bedding, were introduced.
External links