Zen and the art of Donna

DONNA Karan commemorated her late husband Stephan Weiss’ legacy at the Apple Awards on Wednesday, celebrating 10 years of his vision behind the Urban Zen foundation. The legendary designer honored pals Iman, Jimmy Nelson and Joel Towers at Weiss’ studio, where Urban Zen’s headquartered. “When her husband David [Bowie] passed away, the entire world mourned, but nobody knew how she felt,” Karan said of honoree Iman. When the iconic supermodel received her award, she opened up about Karan’s wisdom about losing a husband: “[Karan said,] ‘ The only truth I can tell you is that it doesn’t get better.’ I laughed out loud. It wasn’t the comforting words I wanted to hear. But it is the damn truth. Donna, keep telling us the truth no matter what.” The awards celebrated those committed to the foundation’s mission to “inspire change and awareness, preservation of culture, health care and education.” The event later turned into a surprise birthday party for Karan, who turned 70 on Oct. 2. Several of Karan’s friends, including Barbra Streisand, Bill Clinton and Stella McCartney, sent in video messages wishing her a happy birthday. The night ended with Alexa Ray Joel serenading Karan as Joel’s fiancé, Ryan Gleason, and giddy mom, Christie Brinkley, recorded with their phones. Karan was so into it, she was shushing guests to pay attention to Joel. Keith Richards, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Helena Christensen, Bernadette Peters, Rosanna Scotto, Christy Turlington and Dr. Jennifer Ashton all attended.