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NEW YORK -- Carrie Donovan, the fashion doyenne of the New York Times Magazine who went on to re-create herself as the spokeswoman for Old Navy, died Monday at New York Hospital.
Donovan, 73, had been hospitalized for the past week and a half and died of pulmonary failure, according to her friend, George O'Brien, a design consultant.
Known for her larger-than-life personality, fashion sensibility and ebullient wit, Donovan established herself as a true force in the fashion world. With her open manner and recognizable personal style -- oversized black-rimmed glasses, pearl necklace, and virtually all-black wardrobe -- Donovan forged many close relationships in both fashion and journalism.
"She was mentor, mother, motivator and inspiration," said Donna Karan Monday. "She was epitome of an icon, with a passion for fashion. She lived it. She breathed it. She was for me what Diana Vreeland was for other people. She had wit, humor and charm and she inspired me."
Karl Lagerfeld said, "She was the Hollywood version of a fashion editor, but she knew she was playing the part. She was marvelous. She was always amusing to be with, so full of life. And she had a very good eye."
Born in Lake Placid, N.Y. on March 22, 1928, Donovan graduated from the Parsons School of Design in 1950. She went to work in Paris at the House of Jacques Fath, and later returned to New York to design for a junior dress firm. Soon after, she gave up designing to take a job at the Times, where she worked from 1955 to 1963, first as a women's page reporter, then as associate fashion editor. In 1963, she joined Vogue -- where she trained under the watchful eye of Diana Vreeland -- and served as senior editor, rising to associate editor in 1972. That year, she joined Harper's Bazaar as senior fashion editor, and in 1976, went to Bloomingdale's as the store's vice president of communications.
In 1977, Donovan rejoined the Times as senior editor and then deputy editor for style at the Times Magazine, responsible for the lifestyle pages of the magazine and the semiannual "Fashions of the Times," and several other Part 2s of the Times Magazine.
After retiring from the Times in 1995, she...