Donna Karan´s Urban Zen connects Parsons graduates with Haitian artisans

Even though Donna Karan is no longer head designer at Donna Karan International, Karan´s days still revolve around fashion. The designer has recently opened two temporary Urban Zen Soulful Marketplaces in New York City and Sag Harbor, where she sells fashion, accessories and ornaments which are made by Haitian artisans. For the first time since the inception of Urban Zen three years ago, Karan has teamed up with Parsons School of Design for the Design, Organization, Training (DOT) programme.

As part of the DOT programme, Parsons graduates Mochi Liu (Architecture, 2014), Amanda Evengard (Product Design, 2014), Ekaterina Kulikova (Fashion Studies 2014) and Jennifer June (Interior Design, 2014) spent their summer in Port Au Prince in Haiti to share their knowledge and tools with local artisans. The four graduates have led workshops in jewelry, textile development, leather, pottery, hand dying, printing and beading. Additionally, Parsons alumni and faculty member Paula Coles joined the graduates to offer further guidance. The reason for collaborating with Parsons School of Design, is to teach Haitian craftsmen about modern design innovation and help promote their products to a global marketplace.

“Working with the artisans of Haiti with the support of Donna and Paula has been an amazing experience,” Liu said during the official opening of the Urban Zen marketplace last weekend. “At the beginning, I thought we were all going down there to teach. But soon, we found out that we were also there to learn.”

In addition to the items that were created by Haitian artisans, the Urban Zen shop also features items from countries such as Tibet, Indonesia and Thailand. 10 percent of all net proceeds will be donated to the Urban Zen Foundation, which helps to preserve artisan cultures around the world and offers these artisans education. For all items that were made as part of the DOT programme, 100 percent will be given back to the people who have made them.

The Urban Zen stores in New York and Sag Harbor will be open until mid-January. Next year, a third store will open in Aspen, Colorado. Karan´s brand is also sold at twelve retailers, including stores in Pittsburgh and Nashville.