Donovan, Carrie

(1928-2001)

   A graduate of Parsons School of Design, Donovan went on to work for Jacques Fath in Paris and returned to New York to design junior dresses. She left the world of design in 1955 and took a position at the New York Times as a page reporter and was soon an associate fashion editor. In 1963, she left the Times and joined Vogue where, under Diana Vreeland, she was a senior editor. In 1972, she left to join Harper's Bazaar as senior fashion editor. Donovan became the vice president of communications for Bloomingdale's in 1976 and returned to the Times in 1977. She remained at the Times until her retirement in 1995. It was then that she became spokeswoman for Old Navy and joined the Times one last time as a contributing editor. She is credited with providing inspiration and guidance to many in the design world including Donna Karan and Ralph Lauren.

   See also Fashion critic; Fashion journalism.