DKNY

founded by

Donna Karan

belongs to

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton Inc.

about

"DKNY" was launched as a second line of Donna Karen in 1989. The DKNY line was designed to provide stylish, casual, and affordable clothing for a less elite market segment. The apparel was still relatively expensive but it brought an entirely new and much broader range of buyers to Karan designs. The line, which was craftily marketed on a background of black-and-white cityscapes that enhanced its urban nature, was one of the most successful launches in fashion history. DKNY helped the fashion firm generate about $115 million in sales for 1989.

The first DKNY flagship store opened in 1999 at Madison Avenue and 60th in New York.

In the early 1990s the DKNY line represented an estimated $285 million of projected total sales of $365 million.

The DKNY label has its own stores, located predominantly in retail shopping malls. Apart from DKNY stores in New York, Costa Mesa, Short Hills, Boston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Denver, there are international outlets in London, Antwerp, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Dubai, Tel Aviv and Montreal as well as at more unusual locations such as Canc�n, Barcelona, Ankara, Manchester, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Beirut, Athens among others. In addition, there are so-called Donna Karan Company stores, predominantly located within outlet malls, which sell the merchandise at reduced prices.

Since 2005, Donna Karan has offered online shopping of its DKNY lines at the label's web site. Products range from womenswear, accessories, shoes, baby clothing, the PURE collection to menswear. The latter, however, is not being offered anymore for the spring 2007 season.

The company maintains retail and office space at 550 Seventh Avenue (headquarters) and 240 W. 40th St. in New York City.

The DKNY line is entirely designed by Jane Chung, a Karan employee since the days at Anne Klein.