It’s special to have an iconic mother and daughter on the cover together. When you look at each other today, what makes you the proudest?
Gabby de Felice: I’m proudest of my mom for being such an innovator. Not only being an iconic fashion designer, but for marrying philanthropy with commerce. Whenever a cause is near to her heart, she uses her platform to raise awareness and raise funds. For example, she was the first American fashion designer to get designers to sell their clothing at Seventh on Sale to benefit AIDS. She also created Super Saturday in the Hamptons to support ovarian cancer. And there are so many other examples. She doesn’t just talk, she acts—and makes a difference.
Donna Karan: I’m so proud of my daughter and all she’s accomplished on her own. Where she was given every opportunity to march in my footsteps, she ultimately decided to carve her own path as a designer in the hospitality industry with her husband, Gianpaolo. She’s done it with such style and warmth; you feel welcomed and cared for, like you’ve come into her home.
Donna, what is something about Gabby that people may not know, but you’ve seen in her since she was little?
Donna: Gabby’s always had her own sense of style, completely opposite from mine. Gabby has lived in so many places and always drawn inspiration from the natural world and the soulfulness of the home. She started wanting to design our homes at a young age, shopping at Gracious Home on the Upper East Side and redesigning her bathroom with bath mats and curtains. Environment and atmosphere have always been so important to her. To us, family and home are one.
Gabby, growing up with Donna Karan as your mom, was there ever a moment when you realized, “Wait, my mom isn’t just my mom. She’s Donna Karan”?
Gabby: People would always stop us on the street, on a beach in Fire Island, anywhere we went, really. But for me…she was always…my mom; she always put me first.
Your relationship feels incredibly close. Has that always been the case, or has motherhood and adulthood changed your dynamic?
Gabby: I think we’ve swapped. I feel like her mother now, and she’s like my daughter. I’m always concerned about her being way too busy, staying out late, driving at night, or not taking a minute for herself. I’m always worried about her.
Donna: Gabby definitely thinks she’s the mother now!
Donna, you’ve built one of the most recognizable fashion brands in the world, and Gabby has built a hospitality brand that’s become an incredibly loved and respected destination in its own right. What have you learned from each other’s approach to building a business?
Donna: Interestingly, Gabby and I both build businesses with our partners. She created Tutto with Gianpaolo, and I created Donna Karan and DKNY with my late husband, Stephan Weiss. Husband-and-wife business partnerships are challenging, but for us, in both cases, it’s been successful.
Do you ever find yourselves giving each other advice, or is it more that you’ve learned to trust each other’s instincts?
Gabby: [Laughs] I always trust my mother’s instincts. I don’t know if I’m giving her advice, but I’m definitely bossing her around. She says I’ve become her mother.
Donna: She has!
Gabby, it’s been nearly 20 years since you first opened Tutto Il Giorno. Why do you think it resonates with people the way it does?
Gabby: I think it resonates because we personally touch and have a presence in all our restaurants. I feel like, especially with the launch of Palm Beach, which is Palm Beach’s first waterfront restaurant, people are like, “How did you and your husband acquire the best property in Florida?” I think it’s because we’re involved. We love being in our restaurants with our friends and our family, and they’re devoted to all our Tuttos. We’ve created a community. Tutto is not just a restaurant, but a lifestyle.
This year has been a major year of growth for the business. What excites you about bringing Tutto to Palm Beach, and why was this the next natural market?
Gabby: Spending the winters in Florida has been a nice move for us as a couple. And our daughter Stefania lives there, too. So for a family, it’s become our new community.
What’s the status of the Bridgehampton Tutto Caffé? And what can we expect?
Gabby: Bridgehampton will be open in the fall. You can expect an incredible cup of our specialty coffee in a chic and stylish atmosphere. We have more Tutto Caffés on the horizon, which we’ll announce soon. We’re also so excited about our first holiday season at Tutto Mare. Holidays are always magical at Tutto; I get to transform the atmosphere.
Donna, we regularly see you at the Sag Harbor location; what’s your go-to order?
Donna: The La Donna mocktail, which is cucumber juice, mint simple syrup, lemon juice, club soda, and of course a Gabriella salad, which is really my salad that they named after my daughter. (Laughs)
Urban Zen has storefronts in multiple Tutto locations. What does it feel like to blend both of your businesses together there?
Gabby: Of course Mom inspires everything I do when I design our spaces. Inevitably though, she ends up sprinkling herself everywhere, including doing photo shoots on the couches at 8 o’clock when we’re trying to serve dinner, making Instagram reels, and changing the clothing on the mannequins while people are eating. But you can always get a reservation if my mother is around! She’ll never say no.
Donna: Design is more than about just clothes or restaurant spaces. It’s about a bigger life and helping others, to create and collaborate, which is Urban Zen’s philosophy.
Gabby, what inspires the menu and décor of all your restaurants?
Gabby: My Neopolitan mother-in-law is a huge influence on the menu, as is our Executive Chef Agostino Petrosino. From the beginning, Nonna Carolina has been the inspiration for all our signature dishes. Of course, I have my own sense of design, but my mother has inspired me from all her travels, especially Bali. I designed the Hamptons restaurants with our travels in mind, and much of the furniture, tabletop, and ceramics are available for sale through Urban Zen.
The Hamptons has shaped both of your lives in different ways. What has this community meant to your family over the years?
Gabby: I feel like the secret of our success is all about community. The Hamptons became so significant for us because we raised our children there. They went to school out there. They grew up out there. I grew up there, too! It’s been my home forever in some ways.
Donna, what excites you creatively more than anything else today?
Donna: Urban Zen’s three initiatives: healthcare, education, and preservation of culture. Together they represent the past, present, and future, the mind, body, and spirit. So many people have told me to separate them, to only focus on one at time because it sounds confusing. But honestly, I see them as integrative parts of a whole. We need to learn from the past, take care of our bodies, and educate our children to create a successful future. You can’t do one without the others.
You’re currently working on a documentary. What inspired you to tell your story now, and what do you hope people take away from it?
Donna: I feel like it’s a part of my legacy, and my family thinks that it’s important for us. I want to tell my own story, which this allows me to do. I was a pioneer of how women get dressed. Women started working in the workforce, and I dressed them. I want to inspire others to create, change, and challenge themselves.
Is there something viewers will discover about you that they may not expect?
Donna: Expect lots of surprises is all I can say.
What is one project each of you is especially excited about over the next year?
Gabby: I would love to try to develop a product home line with my mom. We want to continue combining dining with retail and to collaborate on home furnishings. We also love to travel the world and source artisan products. We also just finished a big renovation of the Stephan Weiss Studio in the West Village and are looking forward to hosting some incredible events there.
Donna: I would love that. We each bring a lot to the table—literally!
What is your favorite activity to do together?
Gabby: My mother loves me to join her to watch sunsets. We’re hoping to collaborate on a coffee-table book of her sunset photographs.
Donna: There’s nothing more beautiful to share.
The best style advice you’ve ever given—or received—from each other?
Gabby: To dress comfortably and dress like yourself.
Donna: It’s true—if you feel good, you look good. You look like yourself.
Finally, when people think of the Karan family years from now, what do you hope they remember—not just about what you’ve built, but about who you are?
Gabby: Honestly, making a difference, community, and helping others. My mother is such a pioneer in fashion and philanthropy. With the restaurants, we’re helping people carve experiences, whether they celebrate their wedding or their anniversary. Creating moments for people. Making people happy is the ultimate goal.
Donna: Yes, bringing people together and making them feel happy, cared for, and empowered to make a difference. I always say there’s no “I” in “we.” Together, we can do anything.
Who’s more likely to…
Be running late? Gabby
Order dessert? Gabby
Change an outfit three times? Gabby
Convince the other to say yes to a new idea? Donna
Have the best dinner party playlist? Neither
