Controversy around Donna Karan sees G-III stock drop

By

Emily Jensen

Published
Oct 13, 2017

Although Donna Karan is no longer affiliated with her namesake brands, stock for the label’s owner G-III Apparel Group fell in the wake of controversy surrounding her support of Harvey Weinstein.

 
Following the allegations that Miramax and Weinstein Co. producer Harvey Weinstein had been sexually harassing women in Hollywood for years, designer Donna Karan questioned the accusers’ roles in bringing about the harassment and assault, suggesting they may have been “asking it.” Following intense criticism, she subsequently issued an apology.
 
However many groups have called for a boycott of the Donna Karan and DKNY brands, creating the social media hashtag #BoycottDonnaKaran. This week, G-III Apparel Group saw its stock fall more than 4 percent to $26.61.

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Karan stepped away from her namesake labels in 2015, at which time they were owned by LVMH. In 2016 LVMH sold the brands to G-III for $650 million.
 
G-III faced another controversy when it was founded to be covertly re-labeling clothing under the Ivanka Trump line as “Adrienne Vittadini” and selling them to discount retailer Stein Mart. The company said the relabeling was done without the knowledge of Trump’s company. G-III Apparel Group also oversees licenses for labels such as Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Guess.