Barbara Kennedy joins Donna Karan in Wholesale, Design role

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Jan 17, 2017

G-III Apparel on Tuesday announced the appointment of Barbara Kennedy to President-Wholesale-Design, Merchandising and Sales of Donna Karan. The appointment follows DKNY’s announcement that it will not hold a runway show at NYFW this February.

 
Kennedy joins Donna Karan from Ralph Lauren where she served as President of Dresses and spearheaded the launches of Lauren by Ralph Lauren, Chaps and American Living. Prior to Ralph Lauren, she served as President of Dresses at Jones Apparel Group.
 
Morris Goldfarb, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of G-III Apparel Group commented, “Barbara is one of the top women’s apparel executives in our industry and we are thrilled to have her join us to lead the development of the Donna Karan and DKNY wholesale businesses. Barbara’s strong merchandising skills, as well as her wealth of experience in the department store channel, will be an important asset to the Donna Karan and DKNY growth plans we have developed.”

DKNY lost its CEO and Creative Directors in December after Donna Karan International was acquired by G-III Apparel Group. The company acquired DKI from LVMH for $650 million.

This month, DKNY announced that it will hold showroom appointments for its fall 2017 collection instead of debuting the new collection on the runway.