The Intelligence in our Fingertips
In last week´s Tastemaker Conversation, Pauline Brown and course participants caught up with the legendary American fashion designer Donna Karan. The conversation revolved around her aesthetic journey, her incredible feel for fabrics and the sensuality of her designs.
The conversation ended with Donna Karan unveiling her own responses to A.I. Labs’ Taste Hacks. (As a reminder, taste hacks are shortcuts to uncovering an individual’s innate likes & dislikes and emotional responses to specific objects and experiences.)
Below are a few of Donna´s picks:
Pauline Brown (PB): What’s your Style Icon? In other words, name a person – living or dead – whom you most aspire to become or emulate stylistically?
Donna Karan (DK): I would have liked to sing like Barbra Streisand and dance like Martha Graham. I also greatly admire Coco Chanel, she was a true woman for women. I once entered a store and told the employees - `there is something about Coco and me´! We had a similar style. We even owned similar furniture and the same breed of black and white dogs!
Pauline Brown (PB): What’s your Beauty Mark? In other words, which of your possessions do you feel a particularly strong affinity or affection for?
Donna Karan (DK): I would have liked to sing like Barbra Streisand and dance like Martha Graham. I also greatly admire Coco Chanel, she was a true woman for women. I once entered a store and told the employees - `there is something about Coco and me´! We had a similar style. We even owned similar furniture and the same breed of black and white dogs!
PB: What’s your Eyesore? What object do you continue to own and use, despite the fact that it evokes negative feelings such as irritation, annoyance or even disgust?
DK: High heels! I´m a boot and flat person.
PB: Your Last Supper? Describe your final and ultimate dining experience.
DK: I would like to be dining somewhere out in nature, in a faraway land that I haven't been to. My last supper definitely would be somewhere in a tent. Mongolia perhaps. It’d replicate a scene from one of my former ad campaigns.
Donna Karan is one of the most inventive and talented designers in the world.
She started off as a designer at Anne Klein’s and became Anne Klein’s assistant. She eventually became the company’s chief designer. Karan then co-founded the company Donna Karan International with her late husband Stephan Weiss. Several labels sprouted from that company, including DKNY in 1989.
In 2015 she left her namesake brand, by then belonging to LVMH, to dedicate her time and energy to philanthropic endeavors, most notably through her own foundation: Urban Zen.