NEW YORK, Oct 15, 2002/ FW/ -- Fred Wilson has held the reins at Donna Karan for a little more than a week, and already he's flexing his new muscles.

The former president and CEO of the U.S. arm of LVMH's fashion group, who replaced Giuseppe Brusone as CEO of Donna Karan, made three executive appointments this week.

Mary Wang, former DKNY women's president, is coming back to the fold as president of DKNY. After a few tumultuous years, jumping from Emanuel to Tommy Hilfiger to Daryl K, she was most recently president of Coach's U.S. wholesale division.

Expect a new Donna Karan New York president to be named soon. Wilson plans to distinguish the brands as separate divisions with individual presidents.

Peter Speliopoulos is also returning to the Donna Karan clan. Senior design director of Karan's women's collection and accessories before joining the Cerruti Arte team in 1997, he has been named vice president and design director for Donna Karan New York. He left Cerruti last December.

Finally, Carol Sharpe is the company's new president of retail. She was executive vice president of J.Crew's women's business until May, when she was replaced by Michael Scandiffio.

LVMH closed its $643 million deal to purchase Donna Karan last December. Brusone had taken over as CEO of Donna Karan International in July 2001, replacing John Idol three months earlier than expected. Wilson's recent appointment has been perceived as part of the French luxury group's grand plan to move Donna Karan from mass-market to a higher level of exclusivity, on par with its other luxury labels, like Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Fendi. It has confirmed that Donna Karan will be profitable in 2002. Brusone remains on board as chairman.