While working on her upcoming memoir, Donna Karan realized that she’s been talking about seven easy pieces since her Anne Klein days four decades ago. “I bore me,” the designer quipped, as she revisited the ongoing conversation while showing her pre-fall collection called, “The Uniform of Dressing.” In the literal sense, this meant military influences, as in a red jacket with brass buttons shown over a skirt, the shape long and lean. More abstractly, it played into her signature system of dressing.
Here, Karan added studs and grommets — glittering “like the New York skyline” — on a few looks, a puzzling move that drew attention away from otherwise strong silhouettes. The lineup’s standouts included the cozy mohair, wool and cashmere coat patterned like small tiles, and a slouchy white chiffon blouse shown with a high split skirt featuring a stretch lacquered cotton-satin apron overlay. These pieces are elegant and easy, a notion that’s still highly relevant after all these years.
