Foreward by Donna Karan

For me, it begins with the leg. Creatively, personally, professionally, I am absolutely consumed with it. How to dress the leg, how to elongate it, how to shape it, how to minimize it, how to create a leg that goes on forever. As a designer, the leg is my challenge, the starting point for every collection I design . Once I resolve what I'm going to do with it, I know where I'm going with the rest.

Fashion has always been obsessed with the leg. Think of the endless rise and fall of hemlines, the fastest way to change proportion and attitude. Even designers who work from the head down eventually have to focus on the legs. Why? Because society-men and women equally-are obsessed with the leg. (yes, I happened to marry a leg man). 

The leg will not be ignored. 

However, to me legs are far more than a skirt length.

A woman's legs are her foundation, they ground her soul. Her legs determine how she stands, how she carries herself- and by association, how the clothes look. It doesn't matter how great a design is if a woman doesn't know what to put on her legs. The first thing I did when I opened my company was to put black hosiery in dressing rooms wherever my clothes were sold. Once she had on her black tights, she could try on anything; she felt Good about her legs. 

The power of hosiery can't be underestimated. No one knows this more than me. I've been designing clothes for thirty years, yet there are many women out there who only know me for my hosiery. I can tell you why. From the day we opened Donna Karan New York (DKNY), my hosiery has been about solving problems, be they of the fashion or the body kind. Women, myself very much included--are vulnerable when it comes to their legs. We feel they're never long enough, never thin enough, never toned enough. Give a woman the illusion of perfection and you've given her confidence in her sensuality. You've freed her to wear modern clothes and, in the process, to be more in Touch with her body.

And what is fashion if not the exploration of our relationship with our bodies? What we reveal and what we conceal says so much about us. Especially for women, who have Endless options to choose from: the raciness of a short skirt. The fluidity of a long one. The modernity of knee length. To slit or not to slit. The mystery of the sheer slip. Each makes a statement that begins and ends with the legs. In so many ways, a woman's legs are her calling card.  Visually, they immediately separate her from the men. Go into a board room and its easy to spot the woman among the sea of suits. The eye goes straight to the legs every time. When a woman wears pants, her attitude and stance change dramatically. I love the sexiness of a woman in men's pants or the street energy of tight, faded blue jeans. I also love the stature of heels and the grounding of flats. 

Unlike men, women get to slip in and out of personalities simply by how they dress their legs.  But great legs are not a question of beauty. They're a matter of expression. Sensual  expression. The way a woman crosses her legs. How she gets in and out of a car. The sexy look of her bare legs when she's wearing nothing but a man's shirt. And I challenge you to find anything more alluring, more provocative, than a woman in sheer black stockings.

Yet its the unadorned roles that our legs play in life that are most expressive of all. It could be maternal-think of a young child clinging to his mom's legs. There's the sexual role-a woman's long limbs sensuously wrapped around a man. The role of freedom - such as the divine feeling of legs swimming in the ocean. Or could it be one of strength and discipline. Like that of an athlete's leg. To see a skater's or a gymnast's legs up close is to see sculpture. Each tendon, each muscle speaks of lifelong devotion.

What I love most about legs is their movement. As far back as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a dancer. Not just any dancer, mind you, but Martha Graham. Masculine and feminine. Graceful and strong. 

She captured the art of body language. Communicating through dance what words could not- with the legs in a starring role. Though I never became a dancer, modern dance influenced my designs. Sleek, body-conscious clothes. The simplicity of black. Stretch. The bodysuit. Tights as hosiery. All are elements from the world of dance. 

Today. Yoga has become my dance. I love the leg changes character with every stretch and curl. Like dance, each position connects the body and soul, while the leg grounds us to the earth. On every level, legs are a living work of art. 

Which brings me to this remarkable book. My partners at Hanes Hosiery (namely Cathy Volker- a woman to whom I'm eternally grateful for fueling my evolution of problem solving) and I wanted to do something incredibly special to celebrate my tenth anniversary in hosiery innovation. 

This book is what we came up with. Working on it has been a true labor of love. It combines everything I'm passionate about - art, photography. Film, culture and, of course, dance with the leg as muse and inspiration. For me, these pages are an extraordinary journey. 

A beautiful, deserving homage to the sensual limb that supports our every move with infinite emotion.

Thanks to Donna Karan for such introspective insight, and for her beautiful, sensual, and sexy hosiery.