Fashion

What's Next For Donna Karan?

by Stephanie Chon

As much as I hate to see Donna Karan step down from her position as chief designer for Donna Karan International, I'm still excited to see what she's going to do next. According to Inc, Donna Karan will focus on Urban Zen, her charity foundation. Karan founded her charity back in 2007 in hopes of "bringing awareness on health issues, empower children through education, and preserve the various rich cultures in developing countries."

If you thought she was going to stop being creative, you thought wrong. Karan takes part in designing apparel for both men and women, handcrafted jewelry, home decor, and artisan furniture for Urban Zen and a percentage of her earnings go towards the charity's goals. Currently, Karan has partnered with The New School's Parsons School of Design and Paula Coles, a Haitian artisan and businesswoman, in order to bring opportunities of education to Haiti.

Considering Karan has been the chief designer of her clothing brands since 1984, this sudden shift makes for a difficult goodbye. On the upside, at least she is still designing and remaining active in the retail industry. She shared with Non-Profit Quarterly that she feels like she has, "arrived at a point in my life where I need to spend more time to pursue my Urban Zen commitment to its fullest potential and follow my vision of philanthropy and commerce with a focus on health care, education and preservation of cultures."

Sounds like Karan is ready for the next chapter in her life at the age of 66, and it's super inspiring to see how driven she is.

Larry Busacca/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

If you want to learn more about Urban Zen, check out her sleek website that went active just a couple weeks ago.

Image: @urbanzen/Instagram, Getty Images