Donna Karan New York marks relaunch with original supermodels and original designs

The Donna Karan New York label has been revived for SS24 and has enlisted the original supermodels to showcase the collection, which features new takes on original designs from the Donna Karan archive. 

Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Amber Valletta, Shalom Harlow, Carolyn Murphy, Imaan Hammam, Karlie Kloss and Liya Kebede all feature in the high-octane campaign, entitled "In Women We Trust", which was shot by celebrated photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Each woman in the campaign has their own personal connection to the brand over different eras and were said to have been chosen because they "epitomise the brand's relentless celebration of empowered women".

The Donna Karan New York label has been on ice for a number of years. GIII Apparel – which also owns Karl Lagerfeld and Vilbrequin names and licenses many other such as Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger – acquired Donna Karan International Inc. in 2016 from LVMH for $650 million. Donna Karan herself had departed the brand in 2015 to focus on her Urban Zen brand.

Since the acquisition, GIII has been operating the DKNY brand, which was initially the younger diffusion line from the house of Donna Karan. The company said it had been inspired to relaunch the main line after seeing a surge in demand in the secondary market for vintage pieces.

Designers at GIII apparel studied thousands of designs in the Donna Karan archive to create the new collection, which encompasses apparel, accessories and footwear.

The collection draws on Karan's famous "7 Easy Pieces" approach to dressing and features classic silhouettes, accentuated by artful draping, while accessories feature sculptural hardware. The palette is pared back to black, camel and white with key pieces including the crisp cotton shirt dress, signature bodysuit, sleeveless draped dress, and lightweight blazer.

The price range has been devised to signify "a new era of accessible luxury". For instance bodysuits start at around £84, with dresses ranging from around £140 to £180. It is available in the US and globally from today at www.donnakaran.com.

Donna Karan is one of the most famous names in American fashion design history and her clothes formed the bedrock of many women's working wardrobes in the 1980s and 1990s with body suits and draped cardigans among the signature pieces. The label was first launched in 1985 and was privately owned by Karan and her late husband, Stephan Weiss. It was sold to LVMH in 2001 for $243 million.

"Donna represents strength and sensuality. You can be whoever you want to be," said original supermodel Linda Evangelista.

Amber Valetta said: "'In Women We Trust' is such a powerful statement. We need more women to lead us into the future because women think differently."

The campaign, which pays tribute to Karan's 1992 campaign, goes live globally today.