Donna Karan New York, which marks its 40th anniversary this fall, will celebrate with five women who embody the enduring femininity of the brand.

Claudia Schiffer, Irina Shayk, Imaan Hammam, Liya Kebede and Mariacarla Boscono feature in the fall campaign, which was photographed in London by Mikael Jansson. The campaign shares the conversations that women have with each other, reflecting the strength, complexity and style of women today.

“As we reflect on this milestone, we’re reminded of the brand’s timeless, forward-thinking vision — one that remains as relevant today as ever. We are deeply grateful to Claudia, Liya, Irina, Mariacarla and Imaan for bringing to life a multifaceted, multigenerational portrait of Donna Karan,” said Jeff Goldfarb, executive vice president of G-III Apparel Group, which owns the brand.

Reinterpreting archival and classic silhouettes, the collection highlights sophisticated fabrics though such shades as deep brown and chocolate plum and cool metallics.

Schiffer appears in a devore velvet look or a draped knit dress, belted and worn with a faux fur vest. Kebede wears python-effect and suede outerwear over fluid pieces. Shayk dons tailored styles, while Boscono shifts between a silk gathered dress and a monochromatic ensemble of a belt knit cape and unstructured pants. Hammam is shot in a leather and a silk jacquard skirt, as well as a cowl-necked gown of gold paillettes.

In the campaign, accessories, including sunglasses, are featured including sculptural bags and footwear with signature hardware.

Under the creative direction of Trey Laird, the campaign will appear across all Donna Karan New York social channels, as well as digital platforms, print placements and premium outdoor displays across key markets. The campaign was styled by Jessica Diehl, with hair by Damen Boissinot and makeup by Mark Carrasquillo. Natalie Paul shot the behind-the-scenes and still-life images.

The collection will be available in North America at select retailers starting Wednesday and on donnakaran.com.

In an interview, Laird said that over the past few seasons they’ve been establishing the “comeback of the brand, which has really taken off.” After relaunching with a tableau of supermodels for the first two seasons, they featured Kate Moss last season, “which was amazing, but we decided that there was something really special about the women connecting with each other, so we cast five women from different generations,” Laird said.

He said Schiffer had walked in many of Karan’s shows and she did an early campaign with the brand with Steven Meisel in the 1990s, so it’s her second campaign. Boscono is a muse for many designers. Shayk “is so powerful and strong and confident and bold, and I’d always wanted to do something with her and Donna Karan,” Laird said. Then they asked back Kebede and Hammam, who were in Donna Karan New York’s launch campaign. Hammam is also the face of the Donna Karan’s Cashmere Mist eau de parfum campaign.

He said the campaign was shot over two days in London, “which happened to be the place that was easiest to coordinate all the women.”

“The whole collection were these beautiful shades of brown from this sort of taupe-y color to this very rich sort of plumy chocolate, and it was based on archive velvets and jerseys that Donna had originally done in collections from some of the early 2000s, and they reissued this beautiful brown color,” Laird explained.

They had brown banquettes made with a very minimal set with a golden floor, “and we kept moving it around and mixing it up. All the women are in different combinations and they’re interacting with each other. We’re calling it ‘Woman to Woman’ which was an iconic Donna-ism,” Laird said.

In social interviews, they each interview each other. “We thought there was something to the different generations connecting together. Mariacarla would ask Claudia questions and then Claudia would ask her questions,” he said. The age range of the models is from Hammam, who is 28, to Schiffer, who is 54.

They also did videos of the different combinations of women which go out on the brand’s social channels and the models’ channels. Videos will appear on such platforms as YouTube and TikTok.

In addition to the brown tones, they also shot the signature black and gold. “But the new seasonal fashion statement is all shades of brown,” Laird said. They’ve also reissued one of Karan’s archival devore velvets. “I think they call it plum chocolate,” Laird said.

Describing the experience on set, Laird said, “Some of them knew each other well, and some hadn’t met each other. So, for instance, Imaan had never met Claudia Schiffer and she’s such a legend and such an icon, so Imaan fanned out over that, but at the same time, Claudia and Mariacarla realized that the first time they had ever worked together was actually with Mikael Jansson.” He said that models don’t always have that opportunity to connect when they’re of different generations. “There’s such genuine admiration and respect for everybody’s contributions and their role in fashion,” he said.

Laird said the collection is multigenerational as well. “I think we’ve been surprised to see such a range of women. Some women remember Donna Karan, which had been out of circulation for 10 years.…There’s a customer who remembers who’s now back but then at the same time, it’s being introduced to a new generation of customers who may never have worn it before.”

He said Nordstrom is a key partner, as is Macy’s. “I think it’s been interesting to deliver a really strong iconic signature fashion look that’s very timely again, but at a more accessible price that can attract a different and bigger audience.”

He said he visited the department store floors when Donna Karan New York was first relaunched “and it looks so different than everything around it. It really holds up…it really stands the test of time. It looks so flattering on so many types of women and so many different ages and body types. It really is a testament to her [Donna Karan] and her design ingenuity and the language, the brand and DNA she created,” Laird said.

Laird thinks the “Woman to Woman” theme is very relevant. “A lot of the women talked about inspiring women in their lives, whether that was their mother, daughter or best friend. Everybody can connect with that. It’s inspiring to me to see how connected and inspired they are about the women in their lives. That was always a very important part of the Donna Karan brand DNA. Different brands are known over time for different things. Some brands are overly sexual, some brands are very Parisian and some brands are all about leather.

“I think Donna was always about strength and sensuality and women designing for another woman and understanding what she’s looking for and what makes her feel comfortable and glamorous and feel confident,” Laird said.