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She has already become an established A-list name, a fixture at AIDS benefits and theater openings, often seen in the company of high-profile friends like Barbra Streisand ("There's probably no one I admire and respect more than Barbra"). Though older friends recall a time when she was "shy and introverted" at public functions, those days seemed long gone in September when Karan hobnobbed with Bill and Hillary Clinton at a Hollywood gathering. Still, Karan works too hard to spend much time on the social scene, or even at home in her sunny four-bedroom apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side (lots of suede furniture and sweeping city views) or at her East Hampton beach house. When she travels to Italy several times a year, Karan spends more time looking at bolts of fabric than at Botticellis. Her world is fashion, and her place in that world is secure.
Some designers create beautiful fantasies, hopelessly beyond the reach of ordinary mortals. Karan's gift is that she makes wearable, flattering clothes for real women, whether they are corporate lawyers, Candice Bergen or the well-heeled wives of orthopedic surgeons. That sounds simple, but it is a rare talent on Seventh Avenue. "No one understands a woman's body better than Donna Karan," says Andrea Jung, executive vice president at Neiman Marcus. Harper's Bazaar editor in chief Elizabeth Tilberis points out that Karan's designs, unlike those of some of her rivals, work as well for a size 10 as a size 6. And while Lauren, say, can get away with minimal variation in his womenswear lines from year to year, Karan's customers look to her for a jolt of the new, season after season.
Karan proved her talent most assuredly in her spring womenswear collection, which she showed to the press last month. "I loved it," says Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour. Virtually all the top spring collections are presenting a decidedly new look -- soft, fluid and romantic -- but Karan and Lauren showed the most imaginative interpretation of the change. Among the strong sellers in Karan's line: the poet's blouse, a white viscose creation with flared cuffs ($450); navy bell-bottom pants ($650); and an elongated wool crepe vest ($825).
If Karan seems right at home in the rough, insular world of Seventh Avenue, it may be because she was born into it. Her father Gabby Faske, who died when Donna was three, was a tailor. Her mother Helen worked as a sales representative and showroom model. Known in the family as "the Queen," Karan's mother was an imperiously demanding woman. Does Karan's childhood explain her drive? After 18 years of psychoanalysis, Karan has either found the answer or stopped asking the question. "I think I was born this way," she says. "I never feel I've done it right."