Brand name aside, Donna Karan is a designer who has always used her native city to inspire and guide her work. It’s intrinsic; it’s the DNA, and with her DKNY Fall 2014 runway show, she paid homage to the most densely populated city in the country with more zeal than ever. It kicked off with a film featuring the people of New York City, embracing the vast diversity, energetic spirit, and eclectic allure that make this place so wonderful and mesmerizing.
Then the models emerged, and we were treated to the same wide range of human beings that make living on this planet so interesting. The audience felt it: the excitement that true diversity can inspire was clearly in the air, as unexpected hoots and hollers filled the room, cheering on the untraditional models: alternative, perfectly cute and dorky, thin, voluptuous, tattooed, and electric blue-haired, respectively. I felt energized and refreshed with this change of pace. It was a celebration of life.
The collection is appropriately equally heterogeneous, with something for every shape and degree of curviness. Playful zebra, classic plaid, and magnified houndstooth prints; paneled fur coats; gray flannel wool and pops of bubblegum pink; a slip-dress here and there; puffy winter coats (because as any New Yorker – or NYFW visitor, like myself – will attest, it gets cold here!); and cheeky varsity bombers – it’s all in the mix.
A cute dress with a flirty, uneven hem just may end up finding its way into my closet, and the knits, so readily wearable, are particularly strong. Of course, you couldn’t ignore the cap-off: a good portion of Donna’s models sported blacked-out New York Yankees baseball hats, just compounding the message of urban pride and all-around unity.
