Donna Karan has perfected her presentation format for DKNY. It was, again, a casual, standing-room-only affair with the show repeating a few times on a loop so viewers could meander in and out. The wide-open doorway of the Stephan Weiss Studio let the crowd filter onto the corner of Charles and Greenwich streets, essentially connecting runway to sidewalk. "It s about the modernity of New York—all the new buildings and the freshness of the city," Karan said with characteristic enthusiasm.
With floppy Jodie Foster-in-Taxi Driver hats and Feist s cover of the Bee Gees Inside and Out as the soundtrack, the show was right in step with the 1970 s resurgence that was in early infancy last season and is now learning to walk. Much was long and lean: color-block jersey gowns with a hint of Halston about them, skinny shirts tucked into wide-legged pants or dark jeans, and a retake of the Bianca Jagger white three-piece suit. Everything was quite polished, from boxy coats to sash-belted silk dresses.
As a secondary line, DKNY, almost by definition, needs to project a young, upbeat energy, and the proceedings—with the exception of a few overly splashy prints that dragged back the pace—had plenty of bounce. The cherry on top of this seventies sundae was, naturally, the jumpsuit. It s a trend Karan hopes will have legs. "My life is in a jumpsuit," she said. "So I m glad it s back. To me, it s an icon."
