Calvin Klein

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One of America's top fashion designers, Calvin Klein (born 1942) first made a name for himself by designing clean, uncomplicated sportswear. But he kept his name before the public by creating sometimes shocking and always news making advertising campaigns.

Klein was born in 1942 in the Bronx, New York, where he spent all his childhood. As a youth he taught himself to sketch and sew. He attended the High School of Art and Design, moving on to the prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology. He spent five years as an apprentice in a coat and suit house on Seventh Avenue in New York City, working long nights and weekends to hone his own designs.

In 1968 he and close friend and financial backer/adviser Barry Schwartz created a Calvin Klein coat business. The first order was obtained purely, and ironically, by accident when a coat buyer from Bonwit Teller got off on the wrong floor of a hotel and wandered into Klein's workroom. She placed an order for $50,000, which was a hugh amount at that time. Encouraged by the fashion press' exaltations and store executives' support, Klein expanded his line to include women's sportswear.

Klein's world soon included his couture line, Calvin Klein Collection for men and women, CK sportswear for men and women, and CK jeans. He also licensed arrangements for his menswear, coats, accessories, intimate apparel, hosiery, swimwear, eyewear, furs, socks, and fragrances, all under his careful control and management. Of the many categories licensed, denim jeans, along with fragrances, built a large following among consumers who sought an affordable way to attain the designer's cache. By 1997 sales of Calvin Klein Jeans approached half a billion dollars.

Marketing Approach Was Never Subtle

Advertising was a key to Klein's success. He stoked the media with controversy that kept his name in the news. He was the first to design women's underwear that looked like men's jockey shorts. His television ads for jeans starred child-star Brooke Shields, who exclaimed: "Nothing comes between me and my Calvins." In the process, Klein developed a reputation for pushing the envelope of acceptability in his campaigns. Ads of the mid-1990s featured underage teenagers (not professional models) in sexually provocative poses that were particularly risque, and were characterized by many as socially irresponsible. Dubbed "kiddie porn" by the press, the campaign was singled out by Forbes magazine as the worst marketing campaign of 1995. He even attracted government attention: the FBI and Justice Department investigated the company for possible violations of child pornography laws. The ads were universally denounced, but in the end, the Justice Department ruled that they were not pornography. And, yes, Klein pulled the ads, but not before the accompanying publicity had made the Calvin Klein brand name a part of everyday conversation..

His three major fragrances - Obsession, Eternity, and Escape - were huge successes, also due in part to the shock value of advertising. His television ads for Obsession featured British waif model Kate Moss nude with her Italian photographer boyfriend whispering, "I love you, Kate," as she wades through ocean waves, nervously chews her long straight hair, and runs through island huts and gardens to the sounds of beating hearts, insects, wind, and surf.

Advertising for his new fragrances, cK One and CK Be, continued to challenge the public's social conscience, with some reflecting a gritty, hard life reality in which decimated teens (this time older, professional models) appeared to be part of an idealized drug culture. Again, the ads drew criticism; this time, President Clinton admonished the fashion industry not to glamorize addiction, but to speak out against the "heroin chic" style of fashion photography being used. Klein continued to profess innocence, saying that his ads are never meant to shock or create controversy. The ads of the 1990s, according to the designer, represented a departure from phony airbrushed images that were not connected to the reality of today's world.

Design Philosophy Affirmed

While he unceasingly altered his image in the media with the changing times - incorporating rock and roll, grunge, and waif models as well as the homo-erotic and cynical-chic images of drug use conceived by top fashion photographer Bruce Weber - his design philosophy remained rooted in minimalism. At the same time his advertising for jeans and fragrances was being criticized, Calvin Klein clothing was receiving critical acclaim for its clean, modern lines. Time magazine called him the Frank Lloyd Wright of fashion, and named him one of the 25 most influential Americans in 1996.

Klein won the prestigious Coty Award three times in a row (1973-1975), becoming the youngest designer to ever have that honor. In 1982, 1983, and 1986 he also captured the Council of Fashion Designers of America Award. In addition to his professional achievements, he built a financially strong company with the continued advice and help of partner Barry Schwartz who guided the company through tough financial times in the late 1980s. His worldwide empire was rivaled by few designers.

Nicknamed "Calvin Clean"

In his personal life Klein also weathered the times. He married Jayne Centre in 1964 but divorced in 1974. They had one child, Marci. After battling rumors of a gay, drug-related lifestyle and AIDS, he shocked the industry by marrying one of his design assistants, Kelly Rector, in 1986. None of the bad publicity seemed to affect sales. Perhaps coincidentally, Klein assumed a lower profile and quieter lifestyle during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He also began sponsoring programs such as "Unlock the Silence," to support the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN), as well as various benefits for AIDS. In early 1997 his marriage appeared to be faltering, and a separation was announced.

Klein was unquestionably a stylish survivor as he approached the twenty-first century as a top fashion designer, still appealing to his clean-minded, career-oriented customers. But he also reached a growing group of hip teens and twenty-somethings with his increasingly street-chic women's fashions of tuxedo denim jackets, crinkled poet blouses, velvet priestly evening vestments, and Edwardian men's jackets worn with cuffed jeans.

Further Reading

For further information on Calvin Klein and the fashion industry see Fairchild Dictionary of Fashion (1988), McDowell's Directory of 20th Century Fashion (1987), Contemporary Designers edited by Ann Lee Morgan (2nd ed. 1990), and NY Fashion: The Evolution of American Style by Caroline Rennolds Milbank (1989). A 1994 book by Steven Gaines and Sharon Churcher, Obsession: The Lives and Times of Calvin Klein, was reportedly displeasing to its subject. More can be learned by reading the following periodicals: Fortune (January 13, 1997, AdWeek (September 23, 1996), Time (June 17, 1996), the New York Times (February 10 and 18, 1997), and Billboard (September 7, 1996 and January 11, 1997).

New York-born fashion designer Calvin Klein has become a household name in the fashion business and an important figure in the marketing of ‘designer labels’. His work has also been widely commented upon as a result of a number of controversial advertising campaigns as well as featuring well-known models such as Brooke Shields, Kate Moss, Mark Wahlberg, and Christy Turlington. He studied clothing design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, graduating in 1964. After a brief period as an apprentice in the garment industry, with the help of a loan from a friend and a smaller investment of his own he established his own clothing company in 1968 and soon sold, slightly fortuitously, a collection of his clothing to the fashionable Bonwit Teller New York department store. He moved into the field of designer sportswear in 1973 and, having featured in fashion magazines such as Harper's Bazaar and Vogue, went on to launch his body-hugging tailored ‘designer jeans’ collection (‘Nothing comes between me and my Calvins’). From their launch they sold in phenomenally large quantities. He expanded into the boxer shorts and briefs market in 1982, the logo—as with his jeans—becoming an important selling tool. By the end of the decade he had also launched into scents with Obsession and Eternity, further expanding his business empire to include swimwear, accessories (such as bags and shoes), cosmetics, and even home decor. He has been widely recognized by his peers in the fashion business, winning the Council of Fashion Designers of America's Award for design of womenswear and menswear in 1982, 1983, 1986, and 1993, in the latter year also being named America's best designer.

• Born: Bronx, New York, 19 November 1942.
• Education: Studied at Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, 1959-62.
• Family: Married Jayne Centre, 1964 (divorced 1974); child: Marci; married Kelly Rector, 1986 (separated).
• Career: Assistant designer, Dan Millstein, New York, 1962-64; freelance designer, New York, 1964-68; Calvin Klein Co. formed in partnership with Barry Schwartz, 1968, daughter Marci kidnapped (released unharmed), 1978; Brooke Sheilds jeans commercial debuted, 1980; men's underwear introduced, 1982; purchased Puritan Jeans, 1983; Unilever secures fragrance license, 1989; company reorganized with help of music mogul David Geffen, 1992; debut of less expensive cK line, circa 1993; jeans and underwear businesses sold to Warnaco, 1994; flagship store opened on Madison Avenue, New York City, 1995; first freestanding cK store, Kent, 1999; second cK store, Manchester, 2000; trademark infringement suit filed against Warnaco, 2000; lawsuit against Warnaco settled, 2001; fragrances include Obsession, 1985, Eternity, 1988, cK one, 1994, cK be, 1996, also Escape, Contradiction, Truth Calvin Klein.
• Awards: Coty American Fashion Critics award, 1973, 1974, 1975; Bath Museum of Costume Dress of the Year award, 1980; Council of Fashion Designers of America award, 1993; named one of the "25 Most Influential Americans" by Time, 1996; Lifetime Achievement award, Council of Fashion Designers of America, 2001.
• Address: 654 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USA.

An indisputable genius in marketing, a recognized wizard in fashion financing, a charismatic image-maker and image himself, Calvin Klein is the quintessential American fashion expression of the last quarter of the 20th century and still world renowned in the 21st century. The energy of his identification with jeans in the late 1970s and early 1980s, his later frontiers of underwear, and his consistent edge for advertising image in print and media have rendered him a vivid figure in the landscape of American cultural life.

A sleazy, potboiler biography of Klein was published in 1995, titled Obsession: The Lives and Times of Calvin Klein, not only taking its title from his popular fragrance and beauty products line but Klein's chameleon-like ability to be many things in the fashion industry. Years before, Michael Gross had already described Klein's life in New York magazine (8 August 1988) as "an extraordinary odyssey—a sort of one-man pilgrimage through the social history of modern America." Yet Klein is homegrown hero to young America, the elusive image of the creator as megapower and carnal charmer, the recurrent American worship of those few who achieve absolute power in a democracy. In his decades as a top designer, Klein has established himself as a veritable obsession. He has only intensified this stature in spiraling success that challenges, yet flourishes in, the very visible arenas of fashionable culture.

Is Klein a designer? Suffused with aura and surrounded by negotiation—commercial and social—Klein might seem to have sacri-ficed his essential métier as a designer. Significantly, he has not. His sensibility for minimalist aesthetics, in an active lifestyle with the ethos of sportswear, is as evident today as it ever was. Klein's clothing is as judicious as his marketing is advanced: streamlined clothes worn with ease prevail, with influences as far flung as Vionnet, Halston, di Sant'Angelo, and Armani. Klein's best eveningwear gives a first impression of delicacy and refinement, characteristically avoiding linings and complications, as the wearer enjoys an unexpected freedom and mobility.

Klein's fashion is the quintessence of American fashion expression and taste—his minimal construction promotes mass manufacturing; his ease allows comfortable dressing in all sizes and shapes; his penchant for quality wool, cashmere, cotton, and other feel-good textile luxuries affirms a sense of luxury in clothes otherwise so undistinguished in their simplicity as to pass unnoticed. Although in a 1994 press statement Klein avowed that "Everything begins with the cut," one does not think of cut and construction in the traditional fashion measure of Vionnet or Madame Grés. Klein's spare cut is not truly architectural; it is unobtrusive or, in the words of Bernadine Morris, writing in the New York Times in May of 1985, "without frills."

Klein's marketing of jeans, underwear, and fragrance were consistent in their aggressive even opportunistic address to gender and sexuality. Beginning with 1980 television advertising conceived by Richard Avedon and Klein using young model Brooke Shields, Klein steadily set and stretched the parameters of America's acceptance of overt sensuality in promotion of fashion and in public, with displays ranging from national television campaigns to Times Square billboards, and to print media. Klein's campaigns have been progressive, seeming in each instance to build upon and move beyond the first provocation and the inevitable acceptance of the prior campaign.

Defining the public protocols of the 1980s and 1990s, Klein made a distinct cultural contribution to advertising. He not only took the design of jeans and underwear to new heights, but brought gender into the fray as well. He was unerringly responsible for the surge of gender-sharing fragrances launched in the middle and late 1990s, as well as pushing the envelope with daringly sexual displays in adversitising.

James Brady wrote of Klein in Parade in October 1986: "His success is so enormous, his income so vast, his lifestyle so lavish, that we tend to forget that in life there are no free rides." And so controversy has often surrounded Klein as much as celebrity; but it is incontrovertible that Klein altered the landscape of modern American fashion and its perception as only a genius and a giant can—in an epoch of uncertainty and recriminations, Klein's imperfect but ever-upward course prompted dispute and jealousy. Yet he demonstrated, over and over, that his unerring fashion sense would prevail.

Klein's enduring success has been a balance of the no-nonsense fashion designer with the pretentious and unpredictable commercialism of the fashion industry. Since 1994 Calvin Klein Inc. has grown into a fashion empire producing everything—including menswear, womenswear, fragrances and skincare products, eyewear, socks, and pillowcases (Calvin Klein Home, a home fashion collection, was introduced in April 1995). Bearing the Calvin Klein name has grown into a lifestyle revered around the world; it is known in countries even where his products are not sold. Klein believes American clothes are an advantage in the global marketplace; nearly 90-percent of his business is through worldwide licensing agreements.

Klein has continued to receive notoriety from the publicity surrounding his advertisements. In 1995 his cK Jeans advertising campaign was pulled because of accusations of child pornography. New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani led the uproar in 1999 over a Times Square billboard showing seminaked youngsters. Even though Klein's advertisements are seen as inappropriate, his design philosophy has remained consistent—to keep the clothes modern, sophisticated, sexy, clean, and minimal. He once told Time magazine, "I've never been one to see women in ruffles and all kinds of fanciful apparel. To me it's just silly."

Klein confirmed in 1999 that he was looking ways to expand his business. He hired financial advisers to seek opportunities to develop his business through a merger, or by selling or developing other strategic options. Confirmed reports said Prada, Gucci, LMVH, and Ralph Lauren showed interest in purchasing Calvin Klein, Inc. Warnco, which owned the Calvin Klein underwear and jeans businesses, made an offer but the parties failed to agree on control of Calvin Klein trademark usage. In a statement, Klein said the "strongest path to growth lay in remaining an independent, privately held entity." As of 2001, both Klein and his company remained independent and private.

Publications

On Klein:

Books
• Morris, Bernadine, and Barbara Walz, The Fashion Makers, New York, 1978.
• Perschetz, Lois, ed., W, The Designing Life, New York, 1987.
• Coleridge, Nicholas, The Fashion Conspiracy, London, 1988.
• Milbank, Caroline Rennolds, New York Fashion: The Evolution of American Style, New York, 1989.
• Howell, Georgina, Sultans of Style: Thirty Years of Fashion and Passion 1960-1990, London, 1990.
• McDowell, Colin, The Designer Scam, London, 1994.
• Gaines, Steven, and Sharon Churcher, Obsession: The Lives and Times of Calvin Klein, New York, 1995.
• Stegemeyer, Anne, Who's Who in Fashion, Third Edition, New York, 1996.
• Le Dortz, Laurent, and Béatrice Debosscher, Stratégies des Leaders Américains de la Mode: Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Liz Clairborne, Polo Ralph Lauren, et Tommy Hilfiger, Paris, 2000.

Articles
• Peer, Elizabeth, "Stylish Calvinism," in Newsweek, 3 November 1975.
• Brown, Erica, "The Rag Trade to Riches Rise of Calvin Klein," in the Sunday Times Magazine (London), 29 April 1980.
• Cleave, Maureen, "Calvin Klein," in the Observer (London), 7December 1980.
• Alter, Jonathan, and Ann Hughey, "Calvin and the Family Firm," in Newsweek, 12 December 1983.
• Sherrid, Pamela, "Ragman," in Forbes, 15 February 1982.
• Trachtenberg, Jeffrey A., "Between Me and My Calvins," in Forbes, 9 April 1984.
• Morris, Bernadine, "Calvin Klein Keeps It Smart and Simple," in the New York Times, 1 May 1985.
• Brady, James, "In Step with Calvin Klein," in Parade (New York), 26October 1986.
• Hume, Marion, "The Secret of My Success," in Fashion Weekly (London), 27 August 1987.
• Brampton, Sally, "Drawing a Klein Line," in Elle (London), January 1988.
• Gross, Michael, "The Latest Calvin: From the Bronx to Eternity," in New York, 8 August 1988.
• Orth, Maureen, "A Star is Reborn," in Vogue, September 1988.
• Howell, Georgina, "Mr. Klein Comes Clean," in the Sunday Times Magazine (London), 10 September 1989.
• "Calvin Klein's Obsession," in Cosmopolitan, May 1991.
• "Calvin Klein's Bold Strategy in U.S., Europe," in WWD, 19 June 1991.
• Behbehani, Mandy, "Nothing Between Success and Calvin," in the San Francisco Examiner, 30 January 1992.
• Grant, Linda, "Can Calvin Klein Escape," in the Los Angeles Times, 23 February 1992.
• Sloan, Pat, "I Don't Have Long-Term Plans. I Just Act Instinctively," in Advertising Age, 18 May 1992.
• Mower, Sarah, "Calvin in Control," in Harper's Bazaar, 11 November 1992.
• Hirshey, Gerri, "The Snooty Dame at the Block Party," in the New York Times Magazine, 24 October 1993.
• Morris, Bernadine, "Master of Ease," in the New York Times, 6February 1994.
• Brampton, Sally, "Calvin Clean," in Marie Claire (London), August 1994.
• Reed, Julia, "Calvin's Clean Sweep," in Vogue, August 1994.
• Beckett, Kathleen, "Slip-sliding to a Close: Calvin Klein," in the New York Post, 5 November 1994.
• Spindler, Amy M., "Klein and Karan: Clothes that Do the Job," in theNew York Times, 5 November 1994.
• "New York: Calvin's Minimal Magnetism," in WWD, 7 November 1994.
• Spindler, Amy M., "Luxurious Armor by Karan, Klein, Mizrahi," in the New York Times, 8 April 1995.
• "Calvin Cool Edge," in WWD, 10 April 1995.
• Kaplan, James, "The Triumph of Calvinism," in New York, 18September 1995.
• Elliott, Stuart, "To Be or Not to Be? To Young People It's No Question, Klein Says," in the New York Times, 14 August 1996.
• Young, Vicki, "Calvin Klein Jeanswear Suing Conway for Infringement," in WWD, 29 August 1996.
• Lockwood, Lisa, "Calvin's Credo," in WWD, 22 July 1997.
• Ryan, J., "With Quips and Kisses, Wachner Takes Over CK Jeans Business," in WWD, 15 December 1997.
• Goldstein, Lauren, "Clever Clavin Sells Suits Like Socks," in Fortune, 23 November 1998.
• Lockwood, Lisa, "Calvin's Model Moment," in WWD, 9 June 2000.
• "Calvin Klein," in Business Wire, 13 June 2000.
• "Calvin Klein's Truth is in the Scent," in Cosmetics International Cosmetic Products Report, August 2000.
• Shiloh, Dina, "Calvin Klein Helps to Bring Jordan and Israel Together," in the Times (London), 22 August 2000.
• Sellers, Patricia, "Seventh Avenue Smackdown: Calvin Klein and Linda Wachner are Going Toe-to-Toe in a Bitter Suit…," in Fortune, 4 September 2000.
• Wilson, Eric, "Calvin Klein: After 33 Years in Businesses, the Designer Remains True to His Quest for Modernity While Searching for What's Next," in WWD, 5 June 2001.
• Cojoucaru, Steven, "Behind the Seams," in People, 2 July 2001.

— Richard Martin; updated by Donna W. Reamy

This article is about the corporation Calvin Klein Inc. For the fashion designer who founded the company, see Calvin Klein (fashion designer).

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Calvin Klein Incorporated

Type	Subsidiary
Founded	1968
Founder(s)	Calvin Klein
Headquarters	New York City, United States
Parent	Phillips-Van Heusen
Website	calvinklein.com

Calvin Klein Inc. is a fashion house founded by American fashion designer Calvin Klein. The company is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City^[1] and currently owned by Phillips-Van Heusen. Like other fashion brands, Calvin Klein established a monogram: the "cK" emblem.^[2]

Contents 1 History 2 Acquisition by Phillips van Heusen 3 Designers 4 Brands 5 Stores 6 Fragrances 7 Advertising 8 Internet 9 See also 10 References 11 External links

History

In 1968, Klein founded Calvin Klein Limited, a coat shop in the York Hotel in New York City, with $10,000. The first Calvin Klein collection was a line of men's and women's coats featured at the New York City store, Bonwit Teller.

In 1969, Klein appeared on the cover of Vogue magazine. By 1971, sportswear, classic blazers and lingerie were added to his women's collection.

In 1973, he received his first Coty American Fashion Critics' Award for his 74-piece womenswear collection. By 1977, annual revenues had increased to $30 million, and Klein had licenses for scarves, shoes, belts, furs, sunglasses, and sheets. Klein and Schwartz were making $4 million each. After the company signed licenses for cosmetics, jeans, and menswear, Klein's annual retail volume was estimated at $100 million. In 1978, Klein claimed sales of 200,000 pairs of his famous jeans the first week they were on the market. By 1981, Fortune figured Klein's annual income at $8.5 million a year. In the mid-1970s, he had created a designer-jeans craze by putting his name on the back pocket.

In the late 1970s, the company also made attempts to set up its own fragrance and cosmetics business, but soon withdrew from the market with big financial losses. In the 1980s, as the designer-jeans frenzy reached its all-time high, Calvin Klein introduced a highly successful line of boxer shorts for women and a men’s underwear collection which would later gross $70 million in a single year. Calvin Klein’s underwear business, promoted later in the 1990s with giant billboards showing images of pop singer Mark "Marky Mark" Wahlberg, was so successful that his underpants became generally known as "Calvins".

The stunning growth continued through the early eighties. The licensing program, which brought in $24,000 when it was initiated in 1974, had royalty income of $7.3 million ten years later. That year, worldwide retail sales were estimated at more than $600 million. Klein's clothes were sold through 12,000 stores in the United States and were available in six other countries. His annual income passed $12 million.

Financial problems, increased pressure from all sides, disagreements with the licensee of the menswear line and its disappointing sales as well as an enormous employee turnover both within Calvin Klein and its licensing partners led to the first rumors that Calvin Klein Industries, as the company had been known by then, was up for sale. And indeed, in late 1987, it was said that the sale of the company to Triangle Industries, a container manufacturer, had only failed because of the crashing stock market.

Although the company almost faced bankruptcy in 1992, Calvin Klein managed to regain and increase the profitability of his empire throughout the later 90s, mainly through the success of its highly popular underwear and fragrance lines, as well as the ck sportswear line. Klein was named "America's Best Designer" for his minimalist all-American designs in 1993, and it came as a surprise in 1999 when it was announced that CKI was again up for sale. Planning to expand its business, the company had been approached by two luxury goods companies, LVMH and Pinault Printemps Redoute, to join Calvin Klein, but nothing resulted. Other potentials like Tommy Hilfiger Corp. and Italy's Holding di Partecipazioni proved to be similar disappointments because of CKI's steep price tag of supposedly $1 billion. After seven months and no potential buyer, Klein announced that his empire was not on the market any more. The company would never manage to go public, which had supposedly been Klein's plan once. In June 2008, Calvin Klein started to sponsor America's Next Top Male Model, allowing the winner to embark on a 100,000 dollar contract as well as a runway show, as a bonus, to launch their career.

Acquisition by Phillips van Heusen

In mid-December 2002, Calvin Klein Inc. (CKI) was finally sold to shirt maker Phillips Van Heusen Corp (PVH),^[3] whose then CEO Bruce Klatsky was the driving force behind the deal, for about $400 million in cash, $30 million in stock as well as licensing rights and royalties linked to revenues over the following 15 years that were estimated at $200 to $300 million. The sale also included an ongoing personal financial incentive for Klein based on future sales of the Calvin Klein brand.

PVH outbid VF Corp., the maker of Lee and Wrangler jeans, which had also been interested in the jeans, underwear and swimwear business of CK that had been controlled by Warnaco Group, maker of Speedo swimwear in the US, since 1997. The deal with PVH did not include these businesses, and they remained with Warnaco. Unable to pay debts from acquisitions and licensing agreements and due to bad publicity by a later dismissed lawsuit with Calvin Klein over selling license products to retailers other than agreed upon with Calvin Klein, Warnaco had filed for chapter 11 protection in mid-2001 but eventually emerged from bankruptcy in February 2003.^{[citation needed]}

The transaction between Calvin Klein and PVH was financially supported by Apax Partners Inc., a New York private equity firm, which is said to have made a $250 million equity investment in PVH convertible preferred stock, as well as a $125 million, two-year secured note, all in exchange for seats on the board of PVH.^{[citation needed]}

CKI thus became a wholly owned subsidiary of PVH. In the beginning, Klein himself, who was included as a person in the 15-year contract he had signed with PVH, remained creative head of the collections but then continued as an advisor (consulting creative director) to the new company from 2003 on and has since been more withdrawn from the business. Barry K. Schwartz was said to concentrate on his role as chairman of the New York Racing Association, a horse-racing club. The current President and COO of the CKI division within PVH is Tom Murry, who had filled this position already before the acquisition.

With the fall 2006 Collection runway presentations in New York City, CKI inaugurated an 8,600 sq ft (800 m²) show room space that can seat up to 600 people on the ground floor of 205 West 39th Street, in Times Square South where Calvin Klein has been headquartered since 1978.

Designers

The current creative director for Calvin Klein Collection for women is Brazilian-born Francisco Costa who had already worked with Klein directly before the founder's departure from the company. Costa had taken over the job in 2003.^[4]

Italo Zucchelli, a former Jil Sander and Romeo Gigli designer, had collaborated with Calvin Klein for six seasons before he became head designer of the Calvin Klein Collection menswear line in spring 2004.

Kevin Carrigan, an Englishman, is the creative director of the ck Calvin Klein and Calvin Klein (white label) brands and their related licensed products. Carrigan has been with Calvin Klein since 1998.

Brands

The most visible brand names in the Calvin Klein portfolio include:

• Calvin Klein Collection (black label, top-end designer line)
• ck Calvin Klein (grey label, recently repositioned as bridge collection line; licensed to Warnaco Group, Inc. through at least 2044^[5])
• Calvin Klein (white label, better sportswear line)
• Calvin Klein Sport (sports version of the white label line for Macy's)
• Calvin Klein Jeans (denimwear line; licensed to Warnaco Group through at least 2044^[5])
• Calvin Klein Home (high end bedding, towel, bath rug and accessory collections)
• The Khaki Collection (youthful medium to high end bedding, towel, bath rug and accessories) discontinued in 2008
• Calvin Klein Golf (launched in late 2007)
• Calvin Klein Underwear (underwear collections; licensed to Warnaco Group through at least 2044^[5])
• CK one Lifestyle brand (fragrance, underwear, jeans -launched 2011)^[6]
• Calvin Klein Watches + Jewelry (watches launched in 1997, jewelry in 2004)

For more details on Current brands and licenses, see Warnaco Group#Current Licenses.

Stores

• Calvin Klein Collection

In the late 1990s the company opened elegant Calvin Klein Collection stores in Paris, Seoul, and Taipei and ultra high-end cK Calvin Klein stores in Hong Kong, Milan and Kuwait City. As of today, there is only one Calvin Klein Collection store operated by CKI. It is located in New York City. Out of the two Calvin Klein Collection stores that existed in the US, the Dallas location in Highland Park Village which had been open for 20 years was closed in mid-2005. The only international location, in Paris, was closed by PVH in March 2006. The New York store, which serves as the company's flagship store at 654 Madison Ave., remains open still today. Partners maintain Calvin Klein Collection stores in Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, Dubai and Qatar.

• Calvin Klein (white label)

Specialty retail Calvin Klein stores, designed by New York architecture firm Lynch/Eisinger/Design have been opened at Lenox Square in Atlanta, Beverly Center in Los Angeles; now closed down, Cherry Creek Mall in Denver; now closed down, Natick Collection in Natick, MA; closing down on July 25, 2010, The Mall at Partridge Creek in Michigan; now closed down, Aventura Mall in Aventura, Florida, South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa California. An additional eight stores also designed by Lynch/Eisinger/Design are set to open in 2008. There are also several Calvin Klein Outlet stores, mostly located within factory outlet malls in the US, that sell the white label sportswear and sometimes the Calvin Klein white label at reduced prices but do not carry the Collection lines. It has been reported that Calvin Klein will close all White Label locations within the next year.

• Calvin Klein Jeans

The Warnaco Group maintains Calvin Klein Jeans and corresponding outlet stores in the US and elsewhere, carrying the denim and casual collections. International Calvin Klein Jeans stores exist around the globe. Among many other countries in the UK, Germany, Greece, Russia, Brazil, México, Croatia, Egypt, Chile, Argentina, India, Australia and New Zealand.

Calvin Klein models

• Calvin Klein Underwear

Signature Calvin Klein Underwear boutiques can be found in Buenos Aires, Cardiff (as of April 2011), Mexico City, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Melbourne, Hong Kong, London, Manchester, New York City, Shanghai, Singapore, Frankfurt am Main, Toronto and Hatfield, Metrotown in Burnaby, B.C. (Metro Vancouver). There also have many type for calvin Klein Underwear:bra,taga,slip.this ck 36k 2010,ck world cup and so on.

• Department Stores

The major department stores in the US, including Macy's, Lord & Taylor and Nordstrom, as well as many small independent stores carry the ck, white label and/or Jeans collections. Some high-end department stores, such as Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus also carry Calvin Klein Collection. Notable retailers in the UK offering Calvin Klein include stores such as John Lewis, Debenhams and KJ Beckett. In Australia the dominant retailer is Myer. Calvin Klein products are also found online with particular internet focus on selling Calvin Klein underwear and fragrance.

• Europe and Asia

In Europe, Calvin Klein is predominantly known for its underwear, accessories and perhaps the Collection business, rather than for the medium-priced sportswear lines which are available at select high-end retail stores. In Asia, there are also signature ck Calvin Klein stores that carry diffusion line, aka grey label including womenswear, menswear, accessories.

Fragrances

Calvin Klein is famous for the label's various lines of perfumes and colognes. Their perfumes and the corresponding fragrance lines used to be maintained by Calvin Klein Cosmetics Company (CKCC), a Unilever company, until recently when in May 2005 cosmetics giant Coty, Inc. of New York bought up the fragrance licensing agreements from Unilever.

[Year of launch.]

Calvin Klein Eternity for Men

Calvin Klein Euphoria for Men

• Calvin (men) [1981]
• Obsession (men and women) [men 1986, women 1985]
• Eternity (men and women) [men 1989, women 1988)
• Escape (men and women) [men 1993, women 1991]
• ck one (unisex) [1994, 'Red Hot' limited edition 2000, 'Graffiti' art limited edition 2003]
• ck be (unisex) [1996]
• Contradiction (women and men) [women 1997, men 1998]
• Truth (men and women) [men 2002, women 2000]
• Eternity Rose blush (women) 2002 LIMITED EDITION
• Crave (men) [2003]
• Eternity Purple Orchid (women) [2003] LIMITED EDITION
• Eternity Moment (women) [2004]
• ck one Summer [2004 yellow and green] [2005 yellow and orange] [2006 blue and green] [2007 red and green] [2008 clear blue] [2009 blue and yellow] [2010 orange and yellow] LIMITED EDITIONS
• Obsession Night (men and women) [2005]
• Euphoria (women) [2005] (men) [2006]
• ck one Electric (unisex) [2006] LIMITED EDITION
• ck one Scene (unisex) [2006] LIMITED EDITION
• Eternity Summer (men and women)[2006] [2007] [2008] [2009] [2010] LIMITED EDITION
• Calvin Klein Man [2007]
• ck IN2U (men and women) [2007]
• Euphoria Blossom (women)[2007]
• Euphoria Intense (men) [2008]
• CK Free (men) [2009]
• Beauty (women) [2010]
• ck one Shock (women) [2011]
• ck one Shock (men) [2011]

Advertising

The early ads were shot by Bruce Weber and Richard Avedon. Avedon photographed and directed the Calvin Klein Jeans campaign that featured a fifteen-year-old Brooke Shields. Some of those television commercials were banned, including the infamous ad where Brooke asks "Do you want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing!" Calvin Klein's advertising campaigns are frequently controversial, but prove this can be very successful, to the point of making a blitz career. One of his male underwear models, Mark Wahlberg, went on to fame as hip hop star "Marky Mark", launching himself into the Hollywood scene to become a current popular actor. Another Hollywood star owing his respectable career to the Calvin Klein advertisements is Antonio Sabato Jr.. In the early 1990s, Calvin Klein was also responsible for launching the international career of supermodel Kate Moss and offering her another opportunity to revive her career in 2002 after cocaine allegations. Other spokesmodels were Natalia Vodianova, Scott King and Toni Garrn, whose career were launched by Calvin Klein, too. Current spokesmodels of the brand are Jamie Dornan and Lara Stone. Other models who have visibly modeled for Calvin Klein include Jerry Hall, Patti Hansen, Tom Hintnaus, David Agbodji, Doutzen Kroes, Mini Anden, Garrett Neff, Sean O'Pry, Edita Vilkeviciute, Andrew Stetson, and Vladimir Ivanov.^[7] Actors such as Eva Mendes, Mehcad Brooks, Scarlett Johansson, Kellan Lutz, Andie MacDowell, Zoe Saldana and Diane Kruger have also been chosen to model for the brand.^[7] Swedish footballer Freddie Ljungberg starred in a series of hugely successful underwear adverts for the brand.^[8] They also use other young models representing them, like Jayli Alejandra Rodriguez, Kenia Ferro, Penelope Layevska, Laura Cristina Calderon and Isabela Parini.

They also play with emerging technologies. When advertising cKone perfume in 1999, they employed a very unusual and groundbreaking campaign that displayed e-mail addresses in print advertisements, targeted at teenagers. When these teens mailed these addresses, they would be placed on a mailing list that sent them mails with vague details about the models' lives, with fake details meant to make them more relatable. These mails came at unpredictable intervals, and were supposed to give readers the feeling that they had some connection with these characters. Though the mailing lists were discontinued in 2002, the campaign has inspired similar marketing tactics for movies and other retail products.

Internet

In 2004 the company bought the domain name CK.com. Calvin Klein is one of the few corporations worldwide to own a two letter domain name.^[9]

Calvin Klein Underwear also owns Bras.com and Underwear.com. Both of the domain names are used to re-direct hits to CKU.com

See also

	New York City portal
	Companies portal

• Sex in advertising

References

1. ^ "Corporate." Calvin Klein. Retrieved on January 26, 2010.
2. ^ http://www.pycomall.com/images/P/Calvin_Klein_logo.jpg
3. ^ Rozhon, Tracie (December 18, 2002). "Calvin Klein Selling His Company To Biggest Shirtmaker in the U.S.". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE1DE123DF93BA25751C1A9649C8B63. Retrieved 2009-01-13. 
4. ^ Rubin, Sylvia (May 12, 2011). "Calvin Klein successor Francisco Costa". The San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/08/LVGB1IOH0F.DTL. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} "WARNACO GROUP INC /DE/ CIK#: 0000801351". United States Securities and Exchange Commission. http://www.faqs.org/sec-filings/100302/WARNACO-GROUP-INC-DE-_10-K/. Retrieved 2010-08-24. 
6. ^ http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/daily/100927-ck-one-is-made-a-lifestyle-brand.aspx
7. ^ ^{a b} Calvin Klein.
8. ^ http://www.thesportsprcompany.com/whatwedo/GQ%20February%202005%20p34-37.pdf
9. ^ CK.com on the VB.com Internet Hall of Fame List since 2003 (N°68)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Calvin Klein

• Calvin Klein Official site (www.calvinkleininc.com or www.ck.com)
• Great CK Biography With Photos
• Calvin Klein Jeans, ca. 1975-1985, in the Staten Island Historical Society Online Collections Database

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