Surrounded by a family in fashion, Donna Ivy Faske grew up in a family where her father was a tailor, her mother was a model and saleswoman, and her stepfather was also in the fashion business. She attended a design school in New York before she was employed at Anne Klein. She was later moved up to associate designer, and eventually the head of the Anne Klein design team. In 1985, she showed her own lable for women's clothing. She created the "seven easy pieces" that could be mixed and matched in a woman's wardrobe. These "essentials" were often layered and they easily identified Karan's work, which mixed a tailored look with sweaters and knits. She worked consistenly with jersey fabrics that she, herself, admitted to wearing. She later launched DKNY for a younger crowd. Her portfolio later even included men's and children's clothing, makeup, home furnishings, and accessories.
Information gathered from
Designing a Knitwear Collection by Lisa Donofrio-Ferrezza and Marilyn Hefferen
http://www.wikipedia.org/
Ready to Wear - Fall 2011
Karan called this collection "Pearls of Wisdom." The neutral color palette is very chic and cool. I was inspired by the use of gray tones that were sometimes mixed with brown tones.
Karan utilizies draping techniques in these dresses very well. I enjoyed the lines and creases that the fabric made when the body of the model moved. The criss-cross angles the fabric makes across the body is very appealing to me. The asymmetrical designs are also interesting to me. I like seeing the different shoulder and sleeve details that Karan included, whether it was symmetrical or asymmetrical. I enjoyed the long evening dress that had sleeves that were fitted on the forearms but loose at the top of the sleeve. It made the dress flowy but functional so that the sleeves were not falling down. I would like to include something like that in my own knitwear designs.
Karan also included two pairs of high-waisted draped pants, something that somewhat resembled jodhpurs. These long pants extended over the booties of the model, which made another visual aspect to look at.
Overall in the collection, I enjoyed the different and unusual accessories. The head scarves, thin belts, and fur-topped gloves were all eye-catching. These elements made the outfit elegant and sophisticated, making the target consumer a high-end missy. Suede booties were also common in the collection for the fall.
