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I Never See One Woman When I Design, It's Always A Universe Of Women

-Donna Karan

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I Never See One

Donna Karan

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I Never See One Woman When I Design, It's Always A Universe Of Women

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Today, Fashion Is Really About Sensuality-how A Woman Feels On The Inside. In The '80s Women Used Suits With Exaggerated Shoulders And Waists To Make A Strong Impression. Women Are Now More Comfortable With Themselves And Their Bodies-they No Longer Feel The Need To Hide Behind Their Clothes.

When You Grow A Business, It Belongs To A Lot Of Other People Besides You. As Much As You Want To Control It, The Minute You Go Public, It Becomes A Business . . .

My Spiritual Connection Is About Embracing Everything Around Me. We're All The Same. There Are No Boundaries . . .

Everything I Do Is A Matter Of Heart, Body And Soul.

I Realized I Needed To Address People, Not Just Dress Them.

I Would Love To Work With The Artisans And Take It To Another Dimension, The Same Way I Did In Haiti.

Wellness Is A State Of Mind, Body, And Spirit. When The Three Are In Alignment, You Feel Balanced And Energized. You Have More To Give Of Yourself Creatively And To Your Loved Ones. That's What We All Strive For.

Every Time I See The Sunshine In The Bright Blue Sky, I Cannot Help But Think How Blessed I Really Am To See Another Day. There Are So Many Who May Have Not Woken Up To See It But I Have Been Blessed.

Its All About Finding The Calm In The Chaos.

I Love Skiing, I Love The Sun, I Love My Children, I Love My Grandchildren, I Love My Family And Friends... And Whatever I Haven't Done.

I Love My Family

Family And Friends

[the Consumer] Shown New Styles In The Moment, But She's Not Going To Get Them For Another Six Months - And I Think That's Very Confusing For Her. She Feels She's Seen It All By The Time It Comes Around. She's Also A Little Bored. She's Really Into [snaps Her Fingers], "wear-now-buy-now."

I Must Say That The More You Give, The More You Get. Being Able To Find Solutions, To Help Other People Is Extremely Gratifying.

I Start My Day With A Mind, Body, Soul Practice - Yoga, Pilates Or Meditation.

Design Is A Constant Challenge To Balance Comfort With Luxe, The Practical With The Desirable.

My Biggest Style Regret Is That I Can't Fit Into The Models' Clothes.

The Most Important Thing Any Woman Can Do Is Promote Her Inner Well-being

It Used To Be Only Yoga, But Now I Do Pilates As Well; I Feel Like I Need The Balance.

If You Look At The World Today, There Are As Many Solutions As There Are Problems. I Think That Is A Big Part Of Creativity. That's Why I Started Urban Zen. Because I Wanted To Dress And Address People.

I Always Need A Support Team, Even At Donna Karan. I Like Collaborating. There Is Something In Collaboration That Is Wonderful.

I Love To Play, I Love To Dance, I Love To Party . . . I'm A Liver. I Think What I Need To Learn Is How To Find The Calmness, The Centeredness.

There Was A Time When We Would Pick Up Women's Wear Daily And Couldn't Wait To See What It Read. And Now, You Get It Five Minutes Later On Your Ipad Or Your Phone! The Same Has To Apply To Fashion.

Everyone Contributes Something Different To The Mind, Body And Spirit.

Personally, I Don't Use Fragrance, And Only Use Essential Oils. Stephan [weiss] Said, "donna, We Have To Do Fragrance - Fragrance Will Last Forever - Fashion Goes Up And Down. And I Said, "i Love Casablanca Lilies, I Love The Smell Of Your Neck And I Love Suede. If You Can Combine These Three Together, We Can Discuss It."

Together We Can

I Wanted To Create Something That Would Live On Forever, Beyond My Time, And Out Of That Came Cashmere Mist.

I Practice Yoga And Take A Steam-filled Bath Or Shower. Then I Sit Quietly And Review And Prioritize My To-do List.

That's A Journey I've Been On For Many Years. I Mean, Being A Working Mother, Realizing That I Have To Make And Find My Balance.

I'm Not As Obsessive-compulsive About Certain Things; I Give A Lot Of Latitude To People And Support People. I Know That I Can't Do It Myself And That You're Only As Good As The People You Have Behind You.

I Do Remember How Sexy My Collection Was After I First Got Involved With Stephan [weiss]. That's One Thing I Don't Have In My Life Now And...if Anything, That's One Thing I Would Love.

I Think We're On A Journey....it Was Very Easy To Write About My Past In My Book, But Writing About The Present Is All A New Chapter. I Hope That People Find This Journey Fascinating, Informative And Educational.

For Me, Starting Each Collection Is Always About What I Really Want, What I Really Need, And I Was Personally Dying For Sensual Comfort. I Think When You Think Of Donna Karan, You Think Of Sensuality, But It's A Different Kind Of Sensuality. A Kind Of Comfort Sensuality That Is One With Your Body And The Way Clothes Feel On.

Business, Numbers, Negotiations, All That Stuff I Wouldn't Go Near.

My Favorite Journey Is Anywhere I Haven't Been

You Look At The World Situation, Look At London, Paris, Italy, It Is All Basically The Same As The U.s. Then You Look At Other Places Such As India, Bali, With Warmer Climates, You Know The Southern Climates, They Are Very Different. I Think There Is A Time And Place For Everything And In Australia, For Example, It Is Completely The Opposite. I Don't Think We Can Be Designing For That Customer Per Se.

Sometimes It Takes A Germ Of An Idea, Which Takes A Long Time To Digest.

Design And Style Should Work Toward Making You Look Good And Feel Good Without A Lot Of Effort So You Can Get On With The Things That Matter.

Fragrance Is The First Layer Of Dressing, A Woman's Invisible Body Suit.

I Love Thieves, It Is Therapeutic, If You're Not Feeling Well. It Has A Very Strong Scent But Is Quite Wonderful. I Also Use Lavender. Peppermint, When My Stomach Is Upset.

I Meditate Whenever I Can. I Can Be In The Back Seat Of A Car Or In Between Appointments.

I'm More Eclectic.maybe I'm Minimalist In The Respect That I Love Black...black For The Winter, White For The Summer, You Know? But I Love Artisanal Things.

You Have To Keep Your Eyes And Heart Open - There Are Always New Things To Discover, New Problems To Solve.

I Don't Feel Burdened, But I Do Feel A Little Frustrated. Because I See The Problem, And I Can See The Solution - But There Are Two Strongly Different Points Of View On This - Like The Republicans And Democrats.

Personal Style Comes From Within. It's When The Woman, Her Individuality And Spirit Come Through. She Uses Clothes To Express Who She Is And How She Feels

I Worked With A Writer, Kathleen Boyce. It Was A Wonderful Experience...but I Didn't Expect That The Last Chapter Would Be The Last Chapter Of Donna Karan. That Was Probably The Biggest Shock.

One Of Our Greatest Gifts Is Out Intuition. It Is A Sixth Sense We All Have - We Just Need To Learn To Tap Into And Trust It.

I've Been Meditating As Part Of My Yoga Practice For So Long, I Can't Remember When I Started.

Many Of The Customers Here Are Traveling All Over The World So They Need Multiple Types Of Clothes. That's One Thing About Urban Zen - It Is Seasonless And It Is Timeless. So It's Not About The Fashion Of A Moment Saying, "i Have To Have It Now." It's Something That You Become A Part Of...sort Of Like A Sari.

I Love Building Spaces: Architecture, Furniture, All Of It, Probably More Than Fashion. The Development Procedure Is More Tactile. It's About Space And Form And It's Something You Can Share With Other People.

I Love Working In The Markets, I Love Working With Fabric. So I'm Not That Conditioned To One Thing.

When I Came To Delhi First And Said, "this Is Not India. And Then I Was Taken To Varanasi And There I Loved, Loved The Culture. It Was A Beautiful Journey. The Way The People Dressed - Even The Poorest People, And The Fabrics! With Vegetable Dyes, And I Was Fascinated By The Color. But In The End I Loved The Men - All In White - So Many Shades Of White. And I Said, "what Am I Going To Do? A Color Collection Or A White Collection?" I Finally Did A Neutral White Collection.

My Mind Is Always Racing With Ideas Or Things I Should Be Doing.

With All The Yoga And Meditation That I Do, When The Chaos Happens It Happens. But I'm Not As Affected As A Lot Of People - I Don't React As Much. I Just Let Things Drip Off My Back A Little Bit.

Every Woman Has The Power To Seduce The World With Her Uniqueness, Passion And Creativity.

Meditation Is The Calm In The Chaos, The Fastest Way To Settle Down And Get In Touch With The Stillness Within.

My Bodysuit Is How I Start Everyday. I Wear A Bodysuit Everyday Of My Life. It's How I Start My Yoga Practice. It's Underneath It All. For Me, What Goes Under The Clothes Is As Important As What Goes On Top Of The Clothes. It's A Layering Aspect, So It's Inside.

My Biggest Faux Pas Is Not Giving Time For Myself.

I Believe In The Power Of Women. As Nurturers, We Have A Unique Ability To Care And Share And Make The World A Better Place. Women Who Inspire Are Women Who Are Making A Difference.

Assuming I'm Home And Don't Have An Event, I'll Have A Massage Or I'll Talk On The Phone.

I'm Not A Fan Of Donald Trump. To Be Perfectly Honest, I Don't Think Violence Is The Answer To Anything And I Think, Hopefully, She [hillary Clinton] Will Be Our President.

If I Weren’t Doing What I’m Doing Today... I’d Be Traveling Around The World On The Back Of A Motorcycle.

I Celebrate My People A Lot And That's Why People Stay With Me As Long As They Do.

When I See A Non-yogi [benefit], That's When It Really Affects My Life.

I'd Rather Promote New York Than Anything Else In This World Because New York To Me Means The World.

I've Been Away And Haven't Seen My Family. I Speak To Them Every Day Though. I Miss Them, But I Love Traveling.

I Never See One Woman When I Design, It's Always A Universe Of Women

I Think I Was Always Inspired By Seeing A Problem, And Finding A Solution.

Just Take A Breath And See What Happens.

Women Are Now More Comfortable With Themselves And Their Bodies-they No Longer Feel The Need To Hide Behind Their Clothes.

I'm Very Involved With Pilates As Well; You Have To Be Careful. I Can't Do Headstands Any More, I Have A Neck And A Spinal Problem, But I Used To Do It.

I Think Calvin [klein] Is A Minimalist.

There's Such A Void In The Medical System. When My Husband Was Sick, It Became Very Apparent To Me That The Nurses Were Doing The Doctor's Job, And The Doctors Were Doing The Disease Job, So No One Was Caring For The Patient And The Loved One.

Accent Your Positive And Delete Your Negative.

Everything I Do Is A Matter Of Heart, Body And Soul. For Me, Designing Is An Expression Of Who I Am As A Woman, With All The Complications, Feelings And Emotions.

We've Come A Long Way. Power Dressing Now Is Designed To Let The Woman Inside Us Come Through.

I Have Tried To Hold My Philanthropic Passion To Fashion, Because I Think This Is Very Important, And I Realize I Need To Delve Even Deeper Into It.

Now The Industry Is Looking At The Change In A Very Real Way - To Find Ways Of Talking To The Consumer Much Faster. Everything We Have Is Changing With Communication - From Fashion To Newspapers.

Everything In Life... Has To Have Balance.

You Know The Bodysuit That I Built My Line On? . . .that Was About Me Being Able To Go Directly From Work To Yoga Class. It Just Wasn't As Accepted To Talk About Then.

I Believe Hillary [clinton] Should Be The President. I Believe Having Her And Her Husband In The White House Is What The Country Needs .

I Truly Believe That Philanthropy And Commerce Can Work Together.

Working Together

My New Years Resolution Is To Find The Calm In The Chaos. Practicing Yoga Is One Of The Greatest Gifts You Can Give Yourself. It's Where You Connect Mind, Body And Spirit.

Pasta Is My Favorite Comfort Food, But Sometimes My Body Really Wants A Steak, And I'll Have One.

I'm Very Involved In My Business And With My Family And My Friends. I Don't Play The Social World Very Much, And Not To Promote My Product. I Do It For The Philanthropic Problems Because There I Feel That I'm Making A Difference, And That I'm Helping. So I Do It In A Soulful Way.

Making A Difference

A Fashion Victim Is Dressed In Designer Clothes From Top To Bottom.

Designer Clothes

Every Problem Has A Creative Solution.

Creative Solutions

Evening Is A Time Of Real Experimentation. You Never Want To Look The Same Way.

I Look In My Closet, And If I Need It, I Design It.

I Spent Two Weeks At The Sadhguru's [jaggi Vasudev]. It Was A Wonderful Experience. It Was Very Different From What I Normally Do - Earlier I Used To Do Ashtanga [yoga] All The Time.

I Love Green Juices, Soups, And Salads. I Also Love Dark Chocolate.

I Can't Tell You How Much I Appreciate These Young [israeli] Designers. There's Too Much Strife In The World. If We Become United In Our Creativity, Not Only In What We Wear, But What We Do, We Will Change The World. It's Truly An Honor To Be Around Such Inspiration.

Delete The Negative; Accentuate The Positive!

I Feel At Home Most Places I Go, But My Very Top Of The List Are Bali, Italy, And London. Those Are Like Second Homes To Me.

I Do Not Believe I Can No Longer Dress People, But It's More About Dressing Their Insides. Everyone Is Affected By Healthcare. Everyone Is Affected By Education. And For Me, A Personal Inspiration Is The Preservation Of Culture.

For Me, The Soul Is Connected To A Higher Being. It's Not About Religion; It's About Connecting To Your True Self - Your Truth, The Truth Inside Of You, The One You Were Born With.

Where There Is Creativity There Is Hope And Haiti Is The Most Hopeful Place I've Experienced

It's Hard To Keep The Energy Going Sometimes, That's Why I Like To Go With A Group Of People Who Are Meditating. I Love Meditating In Groups, It's Fantastic.

I Could Go On For Days About Why I Love Yoga. One Of My Favorite Parts Is I Can't Think About Anything Else Other Than Doing What The Teacher Tells Me To Do. For Me, Someone Who Has A Million Things Going On At Any Given Moment, That Kind Of Surrender Is Liberating. I Also Learn So Much About Myself - My Limitations, My Potential, How To Be Mindful Of An Injury.

I Couldn't Live Without Something That Touches My Heart. No One Should.

I Couldn't Stand The Fact That Anybody Else Was Dressing Like Me. It Was Supposed To Be For Me And My Friends, Not My Daughter And Her Friends!

I Feel Very Strongly About Dresses On Every Level - A Dress Feels Like Underpinning.

When I Go To Bali, When I Come To India And Travel And See Different Cultures. I Make Sure I'm Involved In The World Out There, Creatively, Culturally.

I Did Urban Zen For Myself, To Make Clothes For Me And My Friends, A Similar Philosophy To When I Started Donna Karan. Except This Time I Hope It Will Stay That Way So That I Will Be Able To Support Young Designers And Mentor Them.

I Was So Overwhelmed By India When I First Came - It Still Inspires Me Because I Still Go For The Culture, I Still Go For The Colors.

I Sit Quietly And Repeat My Mantra Until I'm In A Meditative State, Taking It All In But Not Focusing On Any One Thing.

Where There Is Creativity, There Is Hope.

The Magic Happens In The Creative Studios. But Sometimes You're Inspired When You're Removed From It A Little Bit. That's When The Juice Starts To Percolate.

Basically, I Was A Hippie And Still Am A Flower Child.

I Wouldn't Be Who I Am Without My Husband, Who Handled The Business End Of Donna Karan So I Could Be Creative.

I Also Miss The Support That I Had Of So Many People. You Know I'm A Very Ma And Pa Operation Right Now, And I Was Used To Having Everything Working For Me. It Was A Similar Situation When I Left Anne Klein And Started Donna Karan. All Of A Sudden I Was Working In My Apartment And It Was, "oh My God, What Am I Doing?"

Usually I Do A Practice In The Morning First And Then Meditate. I'm Fortunate That I Can Do It In A Car, In A Bus, In A Plane.

Its Really Easy To Get Colors Right. Its Really Hard To Get Black - And Neutrals - Right. Black Is Certainly A Color But Its Also An Illusion.

Everything Comes Out Of What Works For Me.

I Like The Idea Of Having Many Different Ways To Express Myself. There Is A Part Of Me As An Artist And A Creator Who Would Like To Express Myself In Many Different Ways. But Then At The Same Time I Know I Have Limited Hours In The Day, And I Can Only Do So Much Successfully.

Hours In The Day

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