DKNY – city connection: The impact of New York City on the brand and the designer

Countries and cities are influential in the formation of brands and the identity of designers, as well as being areas that shape creative thinking. The relationships that fashion designers have with their geographies influence and differentiate their creative power and production.

New York, Tokyo, London, Milan and Paris are renowned as the five ‘fashion capitals’, and all are known for their distinct fashion style. Paris, for instance, is defined through its haute couture while London is associated with avant-gardism and quirkiness and ‘New York’ often signifies casual ready-towear designs for the urban businesswoman (Loschek 2009; Rocamora 2009). The nature of a place affects what products can actually proliferate, and since places do differ from one another, so too do the products differ depending on where they are produced (Molotch 2003: 157).

Donna Karan, a New York-based ready-to-wear designer, conveys a certain imaginary related to New York culture, both in her brand and in her designs, and often draws on the city’s unique features in her work. Here, the cultural values and content related to New York City that Donna Karan builds into her work are explored.