DKNY is a well-known fashion label that has existed since the mid-eighties, but is it considered a luxury brand?
It’s a considerable debate, but owing to its overall value, popularity, and place in the market, DKNY can be categorized as ‘accessible luxury’. It isn’t anywhere near the likes of Gucci and Prada, but it’s some way above the mass-produced, standard clothing lines that are commonplace.
Read on to learn more about DKNY and where it fits into the ranks of luxury clothing.
New York, New York
In 1984, Donna Karan took her gift for fashion design and molded it into something that, at the time, was considerably formidable. She founded DKNY in New York City, after having worked for more than a decade at Anne Klein, another prominent fashion house in the city.
It was in 1985, just one year later, that her visions became reality, and she launched her first Donna Karan Collection. It was a substantial success, and paved the way for things to come.
Around five years later, in 1991, Donna Karan opened her doors to male customers, releasing further collections to service that area of the market. Her clothing was designed to be ‘interchangeable’, working year-round and being as versatile as possible.
However, being a revolutionary fashion designer, Donna Karan recognized the need for a more affordable line. Therefore, in 1989, she founded DKNY and marketed the brand as a more accessible ‘diffusion’ line.
Although the Donna Karan line would continue in earnest, the DKNY label would grow to be much more popular by comparison. This was due to the affordability of the products on offer, which were several hundred dollars cheaper than those in the parent brand.
Ultimately, it’s all focused around New York – the imagery and iconography on the labels, the headquarters of the fashion house, and of course, the name. Over the last three decades or so, the brand has become significantly popular in the fashion world, and has diversified considerably.
Diversification Is The Key To Success
With the initial success of DKNY in the early nineties well secured, Donna Karan set her sights on mass diversification. The organization would come to design and release an expansive range of products, covering as many fashion-oriented bases as possible.
They primarily focused on men’s and women’s apparel, but expanded to cover children and babies in their repertoire. DKNY also began offering sportswear, suits, fragrances, jewelry, bedding, and homeware.
In the 21st century, DKNY relied heavily on celebrity marketing to drive forward their diversification tactic. They opted for popular and likeable characters like Cara Delevingne and Emily Ratajkowski to push their label.
Arguable Luxury, Considerably Failing
The DKNY brand, while successful, was never considered ‘true’ luxury. It sits in a midsection of the luxurious brand ranks, being classed as something called ‘accessible luxury’.
Simply put, it’s more expensive, exclusive, and higher quality than standard, mass-produced clothing, but it’s nowhere near the levels of Gucci, Prada, or Hermes. DKNY has maintained an air of accessibility for many years and hasn’t ever pushed for dramatic uniqueness or revolutionary designs.
As an example, you can simply browse through the DKNY website, and pick out several jackets that don’t even break the one hundred dollar mark. If you transitioned to the website of a true luxury brand, like Gucci, you’d be paying thousands for similar products.
You can learn more about Gucci and its competitors in some of our other articles.
Truly, it’s exclusivity and price that contribute primarily towards a brand’s status as luxurious, and DKNY doesn’t fully meet those criteria.
Ultimately, the entirety of the Donna Karan name would experience a tumultuous position throughout the 2010s. Although the customer base remained relatively strong, both Donna Karan and DKNY experienced a downturn and some controversy.
In 2001, DKNY had been purchased by LVMH, a French conglomerate which boasted brands such as Louis Vuitton. It was DKNY’s most prominent connection to the luxury market, but would experience a bitter severance.
What was arguably a short time later, in 2016, LVMH sold the Donna Karan brands to another fashion conglomerate, for $650 million. It was reportedly a much lower figure than they’d first paid for the Donna Karan labels over a decade prior.
Mere months before the sale, Donna Karan had stepped down from the top position of her eponymous organization. Although it went on trading, albeit now under massively less impactful ownership, DKNY and the Donna Karan name wouldn’t ever return to its original stature.