view slideshow »

DKNY Celebrates 20 Years

The sight of the stories-high painted brick wall bearing the DKNY logo is a familiar fixture for shoppers in SoHo. The brand's identity is literally woven into the landscape of New York City. An image of that sign flashed on a giant screen during a pre-show video collage at the DKNY show on Sunday, Sept. 7, a celebration of its 20th anniversary held in New York's Bryant Park tents.

Donna Karan doesn't usually show at the tents, but with mega-stars like Christina Ricci, Winona Ryder and Nicole Richie gracing the front row and with 72 looks in the show, the larger venue was precisely what the occasion called for. This was a birthday party, after all.

Taking inspiration from the DKNY archive, iconic sportswear pieces like the boyfriend jacket, the parachute dress, the jumpsuit and the nylon anorak mingled with short and sassy strapless dresses wrapped with wide bows, oversized biker jackets and python print jacquard suits.

Black - a Donna Karan collection essential - received shots of neon color in electric blue, pink and yellow, as if Karan took a highlighter to the night sky.

If you squinted your eyes, you probably would have thought that you'd travelled back in time to 1988 when DKNY was born, but there's a timelessness to Donna Karan's easy urban sportswear so it looked entirely at home on a 2008 runway. With younger designers pumping out '80s-inspired collections like rabbits, it was a reminder that nothing beats the original.

		* A Very Betsey Birthday Bash * Martha Davis: Industrial Design Meets Shoes