Donna Karan
NEW YORK, February 16, 2009
By Nicole Phelps
If Donna Karan didn't invent uniform dressing in the eighties, she went a very long way toward making the idea a sexy one. Now, with the economy in a nosedive, she's brought the clever, potentially budget-saving concept back for Fall, and the result is one of her strongest-looking collections in seasons. It starts with a jacket or a draped jersey top—all exaggerated, sculpted shoulders with a wrapped or belted waist. On the bottom, it's either a long, lean skirt or tapered trousers. That powerful, triangular silhouette came down the runway in all sorts of arrangements, each ready to be pulled apart and reconfigured with any number of different pieces. A caramel calfskin trench jacket, a white poplin button-down shirt, or a black silk parka might be paired with a stretchy, below-the-knee jersey skirt, while a portrait-collar alpaca jacket or turtleneck bodysuit might top cropped pants.But it wasn't all about separates. Dresses, whether they came long-sleeved or in a drapey goddess style, followed the same commanding lines. Karan only abandoned the bold shoulder to reproduce on the runway a look that she herself has been wearing for years. Made from satin jersey suspended from a necklace of leather-wrapped rings, the halter-style "cold shoulder" dress—as she calls it—has been battle-tested not only for sex appeal, but also for ease. Who wouldn't want to slip into a uniform like that?
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Fall 2009 Ready-to-Wear
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Gap Gareth Pugh Giambattista Valli Gianfranco Ferré Giles Giorgio Armani Givenchy Graeme Black G-Star Gucci -
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Haider Ackermann Halston Helmut Lang Hermès Hervé Léger by Max Azria House of Holland Hussein Chalayan Hutson -
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Iceberg Io Ipse Idem Isaac Mizrahi Isabel Marant Issa Issey Miyake -
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Kai Kühne Karen Walker Karl Lagerfeld Katy Rodriguez Kenzo Kinder Aggugini Koi Suwannagate Kris Van Assche -
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L'Wren Scott Lacoste Lanvin Lela Rose Libertine Limi Feu Loewe Louise Goldin Louis Vuitton Luca Luca Luella Luisa Beccaria Lutz & Patmos Lyn Devon -
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Naeem Khan Nanette Lepore Narciso Rodriguez Nathan Jenden Nicole Miller Nina Ricci -
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Ohne Titel Organic by John Patrick Oscar de la Renta Ossie Clark -
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Paul Smith Women Peter Jensen Peter Pilotto Peter Som Phi Philosophy Pollini Ports 1961 Prabal Gurung Prada Preen Pringle of Scotland Proenza Schouler -
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Salvatore Ferragamo Shipley & Halmos Sinha-Stanic Sonia Rykiel Sophia Kokosalaki Sophie Theallet Stærk Stella McCartney Stephen Burrows -
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