Delete the negative; accentuate the positive!
Design is a constant challenge to balance comfort with luxe, the practical with the desirable.
Today, fashion is really about sensuality-how a woman feels on the inside. In the '80s women used suits with exaggerated shoulders and waists to make a strong impression. Women are now more comfortable with themselves and their bodies-they no longer feel the need to hide behind their clothes.
Evening is a time of real experimentation. You never want to look the same way.
A fashion victim is dressed in designer clothes from top to bottom.
I love building spaces: architecture, furniture, all of it, probably more than fashion. The development procedure is more tactile. It's about space and form and it's something you can share with other people.
I think it's changing is that business is not as good as it was and it has become a real question in the world of fashion. You see, bags and shoes don't take on the seasonal quality that fashion does. A black leather bag can be good in any season, but you can't say the same about fashion, particularly about fabrication.
Women are now more comfortable with themselves and their bodies-they no longer feel the need to hide behind their clothes.
I have tried to hold my philanthropic passion to fashion, because I think this is very important, and I realize I need to delve even deeper into it.
Many of the customers here are traveling all over the world so they need multiple types of clothes. That's one thing about Urban Zen - it is seasonless and it is timeless. So it's not about the fashion of a moment saying, "I have to have it now." It's something that you become a part of...sort of like a sari.
There was a time when we would pick up Women's Wear Daily and couldn't wait to see what it read. And now, you get it five minutes later on your iPad or your phone! The same has to apply to fashion.
Now the industry is looking at the change in a very real way - to find ways of talking to the consumer much faster. Everything we have is changing with communication - from fashion to newspapers.
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."
I feel very strongly about dresses on every level - a dress feels like underpinning.
