Hit Designer Donna Karan Talks Success—Sans Diploma

Fashion Designer Donna Karan (DKNY) has a secret. She never finished fashion school.

The 63-year-old got her start by selling clothes Cedarhurst, New York's Central Avenue at age 14. She then went onto Parsons School of Design, but never quite finished—opportunity jumpstarted her.

She left Parson’s to work for Anne Klein, and quickly became head of the design team before she launched her signature line, DKNY.

“I went to Parsons, but I didn't graduate. You know that?” Perez Hilton reported, “I had to go to summer school, because I failed draping. I showed them.”

She sure did.

Karan has won numerous prestigious awards in the fashion world during her career, including the Coty American Fashion Critics’ Award in 1977 and 1982, as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award by the CFDA in 2004.