Donna Karan quotes: the DKNY founder discusses branding, business, and balance.
“I think we’re on a journey.”
“The signs are always coming. You just have to read ’em.”
“Sometimes it takes a germ of an idea, which takes a long time to digest.”
“One of our greatest gifts is our intuition. It is a sixth sense we all have. We just need to learn to tap into and trust it.”
“The components of a great brand all goes back to the customer. Does the brand answer a void? Is it new and innovative? Necessary and desirable? It has to be original. You can’t copy anyone else. A brand has to be authentic and be born of a personal passion. If you, its creator, doesn’t want the product, no one else will. If you want it, chances are it will be wanted around the world. Desires are universal and speak in every language.”
“Where there is creativity, there is hope.”
“If you look at the world today, there are as many solutions as there are problems. I think that is a big part of creativity.”
“You have to keep your eyes and heart open; there are always new things to discover, new problems to solve.”
“Now the industry is looking at the change in a very real way—to find ways of talking to the consumer much faster. Everything we have is changing with communication.”
“Accent your positive and delete your negative. Delete the negative, accentuate the positive.”
“Just take a breath and see what happens.”
“It’s all about finding the calm in the chaos.”
“Every problem has a creative solution. I think I was always inspired by seeing a problem, and finding a solution.”
“I always need a support team. I like collaborating. There is something in collaboration that is wonderful.”
“The magic happens in the creative studios. But sometimes you’re inspired when you’re removed from it a little bit. That’s when the juice starts to percolate.”
“I must say that the more you give, the more you get. Being able to find solutions, to help other people is extremely gratifying.”
“Everything I do is a matter of heart, body, and soul.”
“I couldn’t live without something that touches my heart. No one should.”
“Every woman has the power to seduce the world with her
uniqueness, passion, and creativity.”
“I’ve always been about the power of a woman: accentuating the positive, deleting the negative, whether you’re talking her body, her voice, or her leadership.”
“I believe in the power of women. As nurturers, we have a unique ability to care and share and make the world a better place. Women who inspire are women who are making a difference.”
“The most important thing any woman can do is promote her inner well-being.”
“I like the idea of having many different ways to express myself. There is a part of me as an artist and a creator who would like to express myself in many different ways. But then at the same time I know I have limited hours in the day, and I can only do so much successfully.”
“You don’t have that much choice in your life, which is one of the big lessons I’ve learned. I was going to be a designer whether I wanted to be a designer or not. So there I was.”
“Today, fashion is really about sensuality: how a woman feels on the inside. In the eighties women used suits with exaggerated shoulders and waists to make a strong impression. Women are now more comfortable with themselves and their bodies; they no longer feel the need to hide behind their clothes.”
“Design is a constant challenge to balance comfort with luxe, the practical with the desirable.”
“Design and style should work toward making you look good and feel good without a lot of effort so you can get on with the things that matter.”
“I design from instinct. It’s the only way I know how to live. What feels good. What feels right. What is needed. Give me a problem and I will approach it creatively, from my gut.”
“I’m not as obsessive-compulsive about certain things; I give a lot of latitude to people and support people. I know that I can’t do it myself and that you’re only as good as the people you have behind you.”
“I celebrate my people a lot and that’s why people stay with me as long as they do.”
“I wouldn’t be who I am without my husband, who handled the business end of Donna Karan so I could be creative.”
“There’s too much strife in the world. If we become united in our creativity, not only in what we wear, but what we do, we will change the world. It’s truly an honor to be around such inspiration.”
“I truly believe that philanthropy and commerce can work together.”
“I have tried to hold my philanthropic passion to fashion, because I think this is very important, and I realize I need to delve even deeper into it.”
“I’m very involved in my business and with my family and my friends. I don’t play the social world very much, and not to promote my product. I do it for the philanthropic problems because there I feel that I’m making a difference, and that I’m helping. So I do it in a soulful way.”
“Everyone contributes something different to the mind, body, and spirit.”
“It’s hard to keep the energy going sometimes, that’s why I like to go with a group of people who are meditating. I love meditating in groups, it’s fantastic.”
“Meditation is the calm in the chaos, the fastest way to settle down and get in touch with the stillness within.”
“With all the yoga and meditation that I do, when the chaos happens it happens. But I’m not as affected as a lot of people. I don’t react as much. I just let things drip off my back a little bit.”
“Wellness is the secret to not getting sick—to prevent disease before it has an opportunity to set in. Recognizing that nutrition and food matter. That if you treat your mind, body, and spirit well, you have a better chance at reaching your potential, however you define and dream it.”
“Wellness is a state of mind, body, and spirit. When the three are in alignment, you feel balanced and energized. You have more to give of yourself creatively and to your loved ones. That’s what we all strive for.”
“My daughter Gabby very kindly once said that she thinks I was a better mother because I was doing a job I loved. I now think guilt is a universal part of being a mother.”
“That’s a journey I’ve been on for many years. I mean, being a working mother, realizing that I have to make and find my balance.”
“Success is balancing your personal life and your work life. It’s also being content and satisfied with what you accomplished so you can let it go and move forward. I’m not good at standing still, so success is about taking that next step and challenge, whatever it may be.”
“I wish someone had told me to travel the world before working. I started too early. Once you’re working, you don’t take the time to be inspired. The best advice I ever received was from Anne Klein: a designer is a designer, whether you’re designing a dress or a toothbrush. The integrity, skill, and creativity are all the same.”
“My favorite journey is anywhere I haven’t been. I live for what I haven’t done.”
“If I weren’t doing what I’m doing today, I’d be traveling around the world on the back of a motorcycle.”
“For me, the soul is connected to a higher being. It’s not about religion; it’s about connecting to your true self—your truth, the truth inside of you, the one you were born with.”
“My spiritual connection is about embracing everything around me. We’re all the same. There are no boundaries.”
“Everything in life has to have balance.”
“Every time I see the sunshine in the bright blue sky, I cannot help but think how blessed I really am to see another day. There are so many who may have not woken up to see it but I have been blessed.”
“I have been so fortunate in my life.”
