Calvin Klein: passion for fashion and high perfumery
Calvin Klein was born on November 19, 1942 in New York, to Jewish Hungarian parents who fled to the United States. The young Calvin begins his university career at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology , but will never complete his studies. On the other hand, many years later he will obtain an honorary doctorate from the same university.
He began to practice and in the 1960s he made some clothes for New York boutiques. For two years, he will also work as a collaborator of Dan Millstein. Soon after, he feels he is ready and decides to open his own company with a childhood friend.
For the start of his business, the help of Baron de Gunzburg is very important, who helps him financially and also to achieve a certain notoriety.
In 1964 he married Jayne Center. From her he will have a daughter, Marci. The couple divorced 10 years later. Three years after his divorce, Klein marries Kelly Rector. The two divorced in 2006.
Klein has openly declared himself bisexual to the press, and has also been in a relationship with model and actor Nick Gruber. The two broke up in 2013.
Calvin Klein is also known for perfumes for men and women, intense for a high-spending audience. Often, these perfumes show his initials CK of him.
The Calvin Klein company
The Calvin Klein company (whose brand is CK as the initials of his name and surname) was founded in 1967 as a small limited liability company.
The two partners share the tasks: Klein takes care of the creative side , while the childhood friend takes care of the accounts.
The first collection launched by the brand includes 6 coats and 3 dresses. To present it, the two rent a hotel room. The collection was purchased immediately by a boutique and this allowed the company to launch into a big way in 1968.
The eighties continue with ups and downs for the company. The denim line is very successful and the underwear lines are also characterized by strong sales. Klein specifically revolutionized men’s underwear, giving men the idea of being able to choose their underwear on their own, even as an instrument of seduction, which until then was the exclusive prerogative of the female audience.
Unfortunately, however, distribution and employee problems caused the collapse of the company, and the financial collapse in the US at the end of the 1980s was also given the final blow.
The company, which was declared bankrupt in 1992, had so far managed to expand to Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
The Calvin Klein brand , however, still brings millions of dollars thanks to perfumes and underwear. So, Calvin lives those years very well, despite everything.
In 2002, Klein sold his brand to PHV, which currently owns it for clothing. The perfumes, on the other hand, were sold to the multinational Unilever.
The CK company today
Calvin Klein, Inc. is now one of the leading fashion design and marketing firms in the world. Each year it creates new collections and suggests trends that are then followed worldwide. It can make and market its creations thanks to licensing agreements and international agreements. Today the company belongs to PHV for what concerns clothing and accessories, while for perfumes to Unilever.
Its lifestyle brands include, among others:
- Calvin Klein Collection;
- Calvin Klein Platinum Label;
- Calvin Klein Jeans;
- Calvin Klein Underwear;
Among the product lines, belonging to the various Calvin Klein brands, there are men’s and women’s collections, divided into:
- clothes and suits for both women and men;
- sartorial accessories and clothing;
- sportswear and golf clothing;
- jeans collections;
- underwear and swimwear;
- perfumes;
- Sun glasses;
- stockings and socks;
- jewelry and watches;
- outerwear and bags;
- small leather goods;
- home furnishings;
Owning Calvin Klein, as mentioned, is PVH Corp. which is now one of the largest apparel companies in the world. It is also the largest company of shirts and accessories in the world and places on the market a large variety of collections belonging to its brands, which are:
- Van Heusen;
- Calvin Klein;
- Tommy Hilfiger;
- IZOD;
- Arrow e Speedo USA;
It also markets its authorized brands, such as:
- Geoffrey Beene;
- Kenneth Cole New York;
- Kenneth Cole Reaction;
- BCBG Max Azria;
- Preppy Attitude;
- MICHAEL Michael Kors;
- Sean John;
- Chaps;
- Donald J. Trump Signature Collection;
- JOE Joseph Abboud;
- Perry Ellis Portfolio;
Calvin Klein today
Calvin Klein today is a successful man , projected towards the future. He belongs to the most important designers in the United States and has made his fortune despite various economic problems. Today, his shows are among the most anticipated and he is also known for being one of the most interesting perfumers on the world scene.
He profoundly innovated the sector and launched the innovative concept, for that time, of the seductive man through underwear, a concept taken up today by many other brands around the world.
