RICHARD JOHNSON - PAGE SIX
February 8, 2008 -- DONNA Karan is looking for a new assistant after her old assistant mistakenly welcomed an animal-rights activist into Karan's Manhattan home with open arms on Wednesday.
According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals rep Michael McGraw, the group sent "a fashionably dressed young woman, clad in knee-high black boots and a denim miniskirt, to Karan's Central Park West home, with a tray of soy lattes in her hand." The PETA operative was actually surprised when "she was invited into Karan's vast apartment, greeted by an assistant and offered a seat. As housekeepers, stylists and other assistants buzzed around, the activist, equipped with a miniature DVD player, waited for Karan," McGraw told Page Six. When Karan, who has been targeted by PETA throughout Fashion Week for using fur in her designs, finally came home, she was accosted by the infiltrator, who immediately turned on a graphic DVD of animals being harvested for their pelts. A horrified Karan said, "I can't watch this now. I have somewhere to be . . . I just really don't have the time." When the PETA lady protested, Karan said, "I've seen all these [videos], but for me it's just purses and accessories." That prompted the PETA woman to shoot back, "But for me and millions of other people, these are animals. They suffer terribly as they are electrocuted, gassed and skinned alive for their pelts." According to McGraw, Karan said, "Look, nobody loves their dogs like I do . . . I feel like my privacy is being invaded. How did you get in here?" Then she walked away. As the PETA operative was being led out by the housekeeper, she heard a "huge commotion in the other room, complete with raised voices," McGraw relates. The house manager then told the infiltrator, "Whatever you were trying to do, you can forget about it," before screaming at the doormen for letting the prankster in. Karan didn't get back to us, but PETA isn't letting up. As the designer displays her collection today at her showroom on Greenwich Street, protesters wearing Donna Karan masks will be outside bludgeoning bloodied stuffed rabbits.
