Donna Karan revisits 25 years of DKNY

NEW YORK (AP) — Twenty-five years in fashion is worth celebrating, and that's what Donna Karan did Sunday at New York Fashion Week at her DKNY show.

She was all smiles as she did her lap of the runway after her parade of flirty, colorful looks.

Karan wasn't afraid to pay homage to the late 1980s when this brand — which is geared toward a younger woman with a smaller paycheck than her signature collection — was launched. The soundtrack was courtesy of the Beastie Boys, Run DMC and Aerosmith, and the backdrop was done in graffiti, reminiscent of New York's grittier time.

"DKNY, I mean really it was a nod to twenty-five years of DKNY saying that it's as good today as it was then," Karan said of the show.

"We celebrated the city of life, it happens in New York City. They're clothes that last forever. They're clothes that have been inspired from nylons to lifestyle to yoga to bathing suits. You name it we do it, but it's done within the DKNY frame and I think they're classics but they go to the next level," she added.

She showed flirty, flippy skirts now made of neoprene, slouchy trousers and even overalls. There was the updated version of "the naked dress" with its invisible straps and sexy bias cut that Carrie Bradshaw wore on "Sex and the City," now worn by Karlie Kloss in red.

The models might have been wearing parachute fabric and nylon backpacks for the first time, and they looked as playful and fun as they did the first time around.

She offered lots of trenchcoats and parkas — yes, these are spring clothes, but the fabrics were light — that could make a few must-have lists.

Rita Ora took a turn on the runway, too, presumably revving up the crowd for DKNY's party on Monday, at which she'll perform.

Kelly Osbourne, on the front row, called Karan the ultimate woman's designer. "She invented what a powerful woman in fashion can be," she said.

___

Follow Samantha Critchell at http://twitter.com/ap_fashion and http://twitter.com/sam_critchell