To mark the launch of a new MFA program in Fashion Design and Society this fall, Parsons The New School for Design presents an evening with alumna Donna Karan on Thursday, February 4, at The New School's historic Tishman Auditorium.

The MFA in Fashion Design and Society is an advanced degree for talented, emerging fashion designers who are poised to become the next industry leaders. A studio-based program fostering experimentation, the program was initiated through the support of Karan, whose own career has embraced a broad view of fashion and helped define a new chapter in American fashion design.

The evening conversation, moderated by Valerie Steele, the director and chief curator of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, is part of Workwear, a new Parsons programming series that reflects the types of themes that will be explored in the new MFA program. Throughout the spring, the series will celebrate the legacy of work wear in American fashion and how this has influenced contemporary constructions of New York as a fashion capital.

As part of this series, Karan will discuss her work and career, including the phenomenal success of her signature label stemming from her desire to "design modern clothes for modern people," founded on a basic bodysuit that became an instant fashion classic, and her iconic Seven Easy Pieces, a modern system of dressing for women where a handful of interchangeable items together create an entire wardrobe.

For more information on Workwear and the new MFA program, please visit the New School website.