Calvin Klein is the ultimate American designer, with his unique creations of jeans, T-shirts, underwear and eyewear. He can boast about popularizing a silhouette and a lifestyle well beyond American borders. Here is the story of a fashion and style giant.
Calvin Klein was born on November 19, 1942. He grew up in a family of Hungarian-Jewish immigrants in the Bronx, New York. In the same neighbourhood as Ralph Lauren! Passionate about fashion and design for as long as he can remember, he attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York before working for a few years in various boutiques in the Big Apple.
In 1968, he founded his company with one of his childhood friends, American entrepreneur Barry Schwartz. His guiding principle? Simplicity and elegance for a wardrobe that is both modern and luxurious. His fashion shows are a sensation when he makes his models walk in their underwear.
In 1979, he became interested in denim, with CK Calvin Klein Jeans, and proposed cuts that perfectly fit the body. Moreover, he is one of the first designers to have the chance to see one of his jeans featured in the prestigious Vogue magazine. One of his famous advertisements featured a very young Brooke Shields.
In the 1980s, Calvin Klein joined the highly prized clan of brands that made American fashion shine worldwide. With Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors, they created a new luxury, adapted to modern life, without artifice. Calvin Klein also revolutionized fashion photography by calling on Bruce Weber and proposing rich visual universes in black and white.
From clothes to glasses
Little by little, the designer added more strings to his bow, offering men's and women's clothing, perfumes, eyewear, watches, shoes, bags and purses, household linen via Calvin Klein Home, and even swimwear.
Today, Calvin Klein remains an iconic brand, distributed worldwide in more than 110 countries through 20,000 points of sale. A brand built on the essentials in a minimalist approach.
