Kendall Jenner Fronts Donna Karan New York’s Fall 2026 Campaign

Donna Karan New York has returned to one of its most familiar relationships for Fall 2026: the woman and New York City. This time, Kendall Jenner takes centre stage, photographed by Mert Alas in a campaign that makes a convincing case for black cherry as the colour to carry us into autumn.

The campaign marks the first since Donna Karan’s relaunch to be photographed across New York, with Kendall moving between city streets and the back seats of cars while wearing a wardrobe that leans heavily into the brand’s late-’80s and ’90s codes.

There is a direct reference to a late-1980s Donna Karan campaign photographed by Dennis Piel and starring Rosemary McGrotha, which followed the model’s inner monologue from inside a limousine as she arrived in New York. Here, the premise has been updated with Kendall imagining she has the city entirely to herself, set to INXS’ ‘Never Tear Us Apart’.

But it’s the clothes, and particularly the colour palette, that sold me on this campaign.

Black cherry runs through everything from the hosiery and knitwear to leather outerwear, accessories and velvet tailoring, and I’m already sold on the shade. It has the impact of burgundy but feels darker and moodier, especially when several variations of the colour are worn together.

One of the strongest images sees Kendall in a black-cherry velvet suit, while elsewhere she wears Donna Karan’s archival bodysuit, reworked for Fall 2026 with an extra-wide belt. A draped wool-jersey jacket and skirt are layered beneath a leather coat, continuing the tonal dressing that dominates the campaign.

Mert Alas

Deep espresso brown provides the other major colour story, working particularly well alongside the black cherry and gold accessories.

And then there is the full-length sequin dress. After so much leather, velvet, suede and knitwear, the metallic column changes the pace while still sitting comfortably within the campaign’s after-dark New York setting.

Mert Alas

Accessories include the Black Cherry Leno bag, the Cashmere Tote in Chocolate Suede, sculptural gold jewellery and eyewear.

Jenner said of the collaboration, “Donna Karan has always embodied confidence and effortless sophistication, qualities I really connect with.”

For me, this campaign works because Donna Karan hasn’t tried to reinvent what people associate with the label. The bodysuits, velvet tailoring, leather coats, gold jewellery and deep autumnal colours all speak to an established Donna Karan vocabulary, while Kendall makes sense as the woman wearing them in 2026.

And if black cherry wasn’t already on your autumn mood board, I suspect it is now.

Creative Direction: Trey Laird
Photography: Mert Alas
Styling: Jessica Diehl
Hair: Chris McMillan
Makeup: Mary Phillips

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