• 
• 2 of 17
• 

Donna Karan

Kathleen Beckett, longtime fashion journalist and now president of Friends of Fashion, which helps to promote and prop up the fashion industry, has been reporting on these mostly 50-something women designers for decades. We got her up-close-and-personal viewpoint on why these women got to the top—and stay there:

"When Donna Karan launched her eponymous line, she was lauded for being a woman who understood women and how they want to dress now – like her 7 easy pieces to keep you looking pulled together, that will take you through your day, week, on a trip, anywhere. Ease and functionality. She communicates that understanding with fabrics – how they fit, how they move, how they work into your life. She's got staying power because she also adapts to the time."

To that point, after selling much of her company for millions, her focus turned to wellness after her husband died of lung cancer. She founded Urban Zen to offer what she calls a bridge to health care. 

I have spent decades dressing people. Now I want to address them," she wrote.