Donna Karan melds traditional, high-tech looks for DKNY

June 1, 2000
Web posted at: 4:53 p.m. EDT (2053 GMT)

(CNN) -- Tie-dyed and high-tech fabrics are behind what Donna Karan calls her sensual spring/summer collection for DKNY.

The New York designer says the blend helps her use the human skin as a canvas to create the ultimate sensual experience. "It's fusing the newness with what and where we've been," she says.

Karan's technique of combining the old with the new creates clothes with an organic look, dominated by colors that inspired her on a trip to Asia.

SPRING/ SUMMER 2000 Collections: Mischka and Badgley Bella Freud Alannah Hill De la Renta Randolph Duke Cynthia Rowley DKNY Vera Wang Calvin Klein Swimwear SS2000 Beene Men's shirts Shoes 2000 Valentino Narciso Rodriguez Versace Sonia Rykiel Balmain Badgley and Mischka ArmaniClements Ribiero Guinness purses Accessories 2000 Jewelry for 2000 Dries Van Noten Gucci Marc Jacobs Michael Kors Ralph Lauren Chanel Missoni Bill Blass

VIDEO CNN's Elsa Klensch talks with Donna Karan about her spring/summer 2000 DKNY clothing line. QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

"The indigo colors and the hand-dying that I saw there were just ... it blew me away," she says. Karan, who uses colors ranging from skin tones to strong reds, says there's a renewed freedom with color.

"I think we saw that back in the '60s and '70s when there was that explosion of excitement, and I would have to say that we are seeing that again."

Karan says accessories play an important role in the collection.

"The bags, the shoes -- that brings the personality into it, because you can wear the simplest of anything and throw on an embroidered something or a shoe or a handbag or a shot of color" she says.

CNN Style Correspondent Elsa Klensch contributed to this report.

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Donna Karan

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