WASHINGTON — Donna Karan, fresh from a Caribbean yoga retreat, said she was undergoing a bit of culture shock standing in Saks Jandel’s ready-to-wear department last weekend, half of which was filled with the designer’s wares.
It wasn’t the event, a fund-raiser for the Harvard AIDS Institute thrown by Washington philanthropist Deeda Blair, nor being in the Chevy Chase, Md., specialty retailer early on a Sunday morning that knocked the suntanned Karan a bit off balance. It was the weather — a snow and ice storm were just loosening their grip on the city — and waking up to the news of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s capture.
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“Of course I would like to see Osama bin Laden caught, and I think the better news would be that we’d have peace as we look into the New Year,” said Karan, as guests streamed through the doors.
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By noon, Saks Jandel was bustling with about 250 people as the rest of upper Wisconsin Avenue’s retail district remained vacant, a victim to the bad holiday shopping season weather. Chairs formed a runway corridor down the middle of the store, where guests glimpsed Karan’s spring collection. Afterward, the designer, wearing her fall collection’s buttery, over-the-knee-boots, stormed into the dressing rooms and scoured the sales floor to offer fashion advice to delighted fans.
“It’s incredible, the loyalty of the customers,” said Peter Marx, president of Saks Jandel, who had a private dinner for Karan the night before at Café Milano. “She’s in and out of dressing rooms, yanking clothes off people. I saw her take the shirt off one lady while on the floor.”
Ten percent of the store’s Sunday sales were donated to the AIDS institute. Marx declined to say how much was raised, but said the event was “hugely successful” and described some of the hot sellers, including 13 of Karan’s sexy “knot” cocktail dresses, which retail for $1,595 to $2,495, and nine short leather jackets by the designer, which sell for $3,450 to $3,550.
“For Donna Karan to have done this at a regional specialty store is a major deal,” Marx said.
Blair, herself a well-known fashion follower, called Karan, who’s about to celebrate her 20th anniversary designing on her own, “a fashion icon” who “makes timeless, magical clothes.”