Donna Karan Quotes

Personally, I don't use fragrance, and only use essential oils. Stephan [Weiss] said, "Donna, we have to do fragrance - fragrance will last forever - fashion goes up and down. And I said, "I love Casablanca lilies, I love the smell of your neck and I love suede. If you can combine these three together, we can discuss it."

Accent your positive and delete your negative.

I wanted to create something that would live on forever, beyond my time, and out of that came Cashmere Mist.

Personal Style comes from within. It's when the woman, her individuality and spirit come through. She uses clothes to express who she is and how she feels

I love to play, I love to dance, I love to party . . . I'm a liver. I think what I need to learn is how to find the calmness, the centeredness.

I'm very involved in my business and with my family and my friends. I don't play the social world very much, and not to promote my product. I do it for the philanthropic problems because there I feel that I'm making a difference, and that I'm helping. So I do it in a soulful way.

With all the yoga and meditation that I do, when the chaos happens it happens. But I'm not as affected as a lot of people - I don't react as much. I just let things drip off my back a little bit.

Pasta is my favorite comfort food, but sometimes my body really wants a steak, and I'll have one.

Every problem has a creative solution.

Its all about finding the calm in the chaos.

I celebrate my people a lot and that's why people stay with me as long as they do.

My favorite journey is anywhere I haven't been

I believe in the power of women. As nurturers, we have a unique ability to care and share and make the world a better place. Women Who Inspire are women who are making a difference.

You look at the world situation, look at London, Paris, Italy, it is all basically the same as the U.S. Then you look at other places such as India, Bali, with warmer climates, you know the Southern climates, they are very different. I think there is a time and place for everything and in Australia, for example, it is completely the opposite. I don't think we can be designing for that customer per se.

The most important thing any woman can do is promote her inner well-being

Wellness is a state of mind, body, and spirit. When the three are in alignment, you feel balanced and energized. You have more to give of yourself creatively and to your loved ones. That's what we all strive for.

Everything I do is a matter of heart, body and soul.

I wouldn't be who I am without my husband, who handled the business end of Donna Karan so I could be creative.

I'm more eclectic.Maybe I'm minimalist in the respect that I love black...black for the winter, white for the summer, you know? But I love artisanal things.

I start my day with a mind, body, soul practice - yoga, pilates or meditation.

Everyone contributes something different to the mind, body and spirit.

I believe Hillary [Clinton] should be the president. I believe having her and her husband in the White House is what the country needs .

I always need a support team, even at Donna Karan. I like collaborating. There is something in collaboration that is wonderful.

I practice yoga and take a steam-filled bath or shower. Then I sit quietly and review and prioritize my to-do list.

There's such a void in the medical system. When my husband was sick, it became very apparent to me that the nurses were doing the doctor's job, and the doctors were doing the disease job, so no one was caring for the patient and the loved one.

It's hard to keep the energy going sometimes, that's why I like to go with a group of people who are meditating. I love meditating in groups, it's fantastic.

Business, numbers, negotiations, all that stuff I wouldn't go near.

When I see a non-yogi [benefit], that's when it really affects my life.

Women are now more comfortable with themselves and their bodies-they no longer feel the need to hide behind their clothes.

I worked with a writer, Kathleen Boyce. It was a wonderful experience...but I didn't expect that the last chapter would be the last chapter of Donna Karan. That was probably the biggest shock.

I'd rather promote New York than anything else in this world because New York to me means the world.

Where there is creativity there is hope and Haiti is the most hopeful place I've experienced

Smell is the primordial sense, more powerful, more primitive, more intimately tied to our memories and emotions than any other. A scent can trigger spiritual, emotional or physical peace and stimulate healing and wellness.

My New Years Resolution is to find the calm in the chaos. Practicing yoga is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. It's where you connect mind, body and spirit.

Just take a breath and see what happens.

I did Urban Zen for myself, to make clothes for me and my friends, a similar philosophy to when I started Donna Karan. Except this time I hope it will stay that way so that I will be able to support young designers and mentor them.

I love skiing, I love the sun, I love my children, I love my grandchildren, I love my family and friends... and whatever I haven't done.

I'm very involved with Pilates as well; you have to be careful. I can't do headstands any more, I have a neck and a spinal problem, but I used to do it.

I must say that the more you give, the more you get. Being able to find solutions, to help other people is extremely gratifying.

I do remember how sexy my collection was after I first got involved with Stephan [Weiss]. That's one thing I don't have in my life now and...if anything, that's one thing I would love.

Meditation is the calm in the chaos, the fastest way to settle down and get in touch with the stillness within.

Design is a constant challenge to balance comfort with luxe, the practical with the desirable.

I feel very strongly about dresses on every level - a dress feels like underpinning.

[The consumer] shown new styles in the moment, but she's not going to get them for another six months - and I think that's very confusing for her. She feels she's seen it all by the time it comes around. She's also a little bored. She's really into [snaps her fingers], "Wear-now-buy-now."

I don't feel burdened, but I do feel a little frustrated. Because I see the problem, and I can see the solution - but there are two strongly different points of view on this - like the Republicans and Democrats.

Sometimes it takes a germ of an idea, which takes a long time to digest.

I could go on for days about why I love yoga. One of my favorite parts is I can't think about anything else other than doing what the teacher tells me to do. For me, someone who has a million things going on at any given moment, that kind of surrender is liberating. I also learn so much about myself - my limitations, my potential, how to be mindful of an injury.

When I came to Delhi first and said, "This is not India. And then I was taken to Varanasi and there I loved, loved the culture. It was a beautiful journey. The way the people dressed - even the poorest people, and the fabrics! With vegetable dyes, and I was fascinated by the color. But in the end I loved the men - all in white - so many shades of white. And I said, "What am I going to do? A color collection or a white collection?" I finally did a neutral white collection.