Renowned fashion designer Donna Karan shocked followers this weekend, when upon returning to her Alma Mater, Parsons: The New School for Design, she had nothing but negative things to say about the industry.
“When I launched my company, the shows were in April and May, now they’re in February. So my question to this industry, and I say it to myself for my own company: Why am I showing clothes in February?” said Karan.
Having been in the business since she left Parsons to work at Anne Klein, which eventually led to Karan launching her own line in 1985 self titled Donna Karan New York, Karan is considered a well seasoned veteran to the fashion industry. During a recent and frank interview Karan expressed her opinion on the state of industry.
“We need fashion shows, but that’s industry, it’s not for the general public. All the communication has to stop. It doesn’t go out on the wire, it doesn’t go out on the Internet, it doesn’t get out for the manufacturers to copy the designs. I mean we’re killing our own industry… There’s too much information going out there. We have to learn the word restriction,” said Karan.
As it would appear many agree with Karan one thing at least, the fashion industry is suffering. Late in 2009 the LA Times posted an article “The Fashion industry’s old business model is out of style”. What they do agree on is the Internet is changing things, for better or worse however they two are divided. Karen makes a point of saying that “all the communication has to stop”; she feels that the continuous updates, posted on online magazines and blogs are slowly strangling the industry. However LA times Fashion Critic Booth Moore disagrees.
“Not only does the internet allow the convenience of shopping anytime, anywhere, it’s also a platform for a new generation of arbiters who can dictate trends from their living room,” said Moore.
Which Karan feels isn’t exactly a good thing,
“"I think there's been a shift in a fashion designer's approach to fashion. The old system is 'Let's create a dress, let's put it down the runway, that's the end of it.' I think it's far more complicated right now . . .I think we're on the cusp of something major. I really think conscious consumerism is where it's at . . . There are so many more messages out there than just, 'This is the hot new item of the season.' There has to be consciousness within the clothing . . . and something that people want to wear, something that makes them feel good, feel good on the outside and feel good on the inside."
Only time can tell what will become of the fashion empire, perhaps this months shows will shed some light on the future of fashion, and design.
Interview with Karan at Fashionologie and The LA Times Article.
Picture Curtosey of Fashionologie.
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