Calvin Klein (fashion designer)

Calvin Richard Klein ( born November 19, 1942 in the Bronx, New York City ) is an American fashion designer of Hungarian descent.

The clothing company founded in 1968 by Klein, international Calvin Klein, Inc. exists to this day, but is out since taken over in 2003 by Phillips-Van Heusen without retail. Under the brand name ' Calvin Klein ' own online stores and international retail, among other garments including underwear for men, women and children as well as shoes, accessories, perfume, jewelry, watches and home products are distributed globally through its own stores, sold in the higher price segment.

Life

The son of Jewish immigrants studied after graduating from the High School of Art and Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology and graduated in the clothing designs in 1962. In 1968, the same small clothing company. For a long time carry in addition to clothing and various other products such as perfumes and watches the brand names Calvin Klein; they are usually produced by other manufacturers under license.

Klein married Jayne Centre in 1964, with whom he has a daughter named Marci. 1974 divorced Klein. In 1986 he married Kelly Rector; 2006, this marriage ended in divorce. Klein lives in the U.S. and shuns public appearances.

Company Calvin Klein Inc.

After Klein had worked for five years in a different fashion houses in Manhattan, where he founded his own company in 1968, which initially produced coats and dresses. The company quickly became known for his simple, purist, timeless and modern fashion with clean lines in subtly - plain fabrics.

The brand name was increasingly also other products. Wear it, for example, since the 1970s, perfumes (now manufactured by Coty Inc.), since the 1990s, also watches ( licensed to the Swatch Group) and eyeglasses. In the 1980s, Calvin Klein was with its jeanswear and related partly daring display Kampa genes - for, inter alia, Brooke Shields posed as a teenager as a model - famous. 1982 Calvin Klein Underwear Division was established for underwear. Klein was a pioneer of high-priced designer lingerie. Early 1990s was Mark Wahlberg Model and photo opportunity at a major advertising campaign for Calvin Klein underwear.

2002 sold his company for small 430 million U.S. dollars to the Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation, an American shirt-maker. Since completion of the sale in 2003, he is no longer responsible for the design of the fashion collections. The purchase agreement provides that small remains employed until 2017 as a consultant at PVH.

Product spectrum

Fashion and Accessories

• Calvin Klein Collection ( Black Label ) high-priced catwalk collections for the fashion shows in New York ( ladies) and Milan (men). Boutiques in New York, Shanghai, Dubai and Qatar.
• Calvin Klein ( Platinum Label) 2013: cK Calvin Klein, originally designed as a lower-priced second-line, reintroduced in 2003 as a medium -priced bridge collection in Asia and in Europe in 2005. Over 200 shops in Italy, South East Europe, Moscow, Istanbul, Australia, and Asia in particular.
• Calvin Klein ( white label ) Sportswear Collection for North America in the value price segment with its own shops, outlets and an online store in the U.S.. Sub-brands Calvin Klein Calvin Klein Golf and Sports. Calvin Klein Jeans denim -based, youth sportswear with its own transactions; price set under White Label.
• Calvin Klein Underwear underwear; own stores around the world.

All brands are available each for men and women. For Calvin Klein ( white label ) and Calvin Klein Jeans is made in North America also depending a children's collection.

The main line of Calvin Klein Collection was designed by 2003 under Klein's line in New York and made ​​in Italy. Under the PVH clothing line has been awarded as a license to 2008 Italian clothing manufacturer ( Vestimenta, Began ) and has since been re- designed in New York under their direction, see section " Designer". 1994 awarded Klein the license rights for the CK underwear at the New York clothing company Warnaco Group. Warnaco acquired in 1997 by a company takeover the license for Calvin Klein Jeans collections and finally also for the children's collections. From the late 1990s controlled Warnaco licenses the Calvin Klein ( white label ) collections and with the exception of Calvin Klein Collection Calvin Klein boutiques and the stationary stores ( as of 2010 to more than 1,000 stores worldwide. ). In February 2013 PVH announced that the company had bought the company Warnaco. To ensure that all fall initially at Warnaco licenses granted back to PVH.

In Germany there for those in Europe to 2013 licensed to the New York clothing company Warnaco Group brands cK Calvin Klein, Calvin Klein Jeans and Calvin Klein Underwear at sites in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne, Frankfurt and Munich own business.

Home Collection

With the license Collection Calvin Klein Home ranges are covered around the theme of ' Home & Home'. The collection sheets, towels, table linen, crockery, accessories, rugs, furniture covers etc.

Fragrances

In cooperation with the cosmetics company Coty Inc. (until 2005 with Unilever) numerous fragrances, makeup and skin care products are marketed under the name Calvin Klein. Back in 1978, Calvin Klein had launched his first women's perfume under his own name and in 1981 launched a men's fragrance named Calvin on the market ( both discontinued). Through intensive advertising campaigns with famous models wearing the fragrance division in considerable extent on the awareness level of the house Calvin Klein. The Calvin Klein fragrances for men and women or as unisex fragrance available and placed in numerous variations in part, among other obsession (since 1985/ 1986), Eternity ( 1988 /1989), Escape ( 1991 / 1993), ck ONE ( 1994), ck BE (1996 ), Contradiction (1997/ 1999), Truth ( 2000/2002 ), Euphoria (2005/ 2006), Calvin Klein Man (2007), ckIN2U (2007), ck Free (2009 ) Beauty (2010), Encounter ( 2012), Downtown (2013 ), etc.

Designer

The current designer for the women's collection Calvin Klein Collection is since 2002 the Brazilian Francisco Costa. His predecessor from 1996 to 2002 was Tim Gardner. The men's collection Calvin Klein Collection is created since 2003 by the Italian Italo Zucchelli, who is employed with the company since 2001. The Briton Kevin Carrigan, worked for Calvin Klein since 1998, is the creative director for the ck Calvin Klein and Calvin Klein sportswear collections and license collection Calvin Klein Jeans. Accessories and shoes of all Calvin Klein brands are designed by the German Ulrich Grimm. All four designers have already worked for the company, as Calvin Klein personally was creative director of the house and in the years board a team of designers before his retirement. For the design team at the Calvin Klein Home Collections Amy Mellen responsible. When New York clothing company Warnaco Group Initiates David Cunningham since 2009 the design of the Calvin Klein Jeans collection.

Others; Trivia

In the movie Back to the Future (1985 ) travels the young protagonist ( ' Marty ' McFly, played by Michael J. Fox) in the past of 1955, to meet his mother (then teenagers) there. Marty is unconscious after an accident; in this state, his future mother finds him. She is amazed that stands on the elastic band of his underpants ' Calvin Klein ', this holds for Marty's first name and addresses him thus.