Fashion brand considered the master of minimalism: The story of Calvin Klein

His full name is Calvin Richard Klein, he was born on November 19, 1942 in the Bronx, New York City to a Jewish family. Klein, whose mother was a tailor, had an interest in sewing and design. Enrolling at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology but not graduating, Klein spent five years designing for Dam Millstein, a coat and suit designer, and other stores in 1962.

Klein became known to the New York elite fashion scene through publicity, before achieving his first mainstream success with the launch of his first line of jeans. Then, with his first big show at New York Fashion Week, Klein's talent was recognized by everyone.

With the training, apprenticeship and all the information he learned, Klein founded his first company, Calvin Klein Limited, which was a coat shop in the York Hotel in New York City in 1968 with his childhood friend Barry K. Schwartz. The company introduced its first collection as a line of "young, understated coats and dresses."

Klein was inspired by the fashion of Europe, as America's unique design language was not yet developed in those years. Saying that this was an advantage for him, Klein freely designed his original drawings and created a unique style. In September 1969, Klein continued to make a name for himself by appearing on the cover of Vogue.

Calvin Klein's turning point began when one of the city's well-known figures got off on the wrong floor in the elevator and accidentally entered Klein's store. He expanded his collection with the money he earned as a result of shopping with a large amount of money. In a short time, it became a well-known and most sought-after name for the designs it offered for sale.

In the following years, the brand developed and expanded its product range by adding sportswear, classic blazers and underwear to its women's collection. In 1973, Klein was crowned with the first Coty American Fashion Critics' Award for his 74 piece womenswear collection. He became the youngest recipient of the award at the time. Then he managed to get this award 3 years in a row.

Increasing annual revenues to $30 million in 1977, Klein obtained licenses for scarves, shoes, belts, fur, sunglasses and sheets. Klein and Schwartz were each making $4 million through the brand. Subsequently, the company's annual revenue increased substantially after the signing of licenses for cosmetics, jeans and menswear. The following year, the brand claimed to have sold 200,000 pairs in the first week when it launched its famous jeans models.

In the mid-1970s, he created a designer-jeans craze with the jeans he removed by putting the brand's name in his back pocket. Later, the company took initiatives to launch its own fragrance and cosmetic products. However, it had to withdraw from the market after experiencing huge commercial losses in a short time. Controversial and sexually suggestive advertising campaigns made the company more popular.

In the 1980s, he hit an all-time high with the designer-jeans craze he started. Then, Calvin Klein launched a line of women's boxer shorts, and it was hugely successful. It later grossed $70 million in a single year by promoting a men's underwear collection. In 1981, Fortune magazine announced that Klein's annual income was $8.5 million.

The company's growth continued until the early 1980s. Initiated in 1974, the revenues of the undergraduate program increased substantially ten years later, generating royalties. That same year, its worldwide sales were estimated at more than $60 million. Klein's products were sold through 12,000 stores in the United States. Additionally, the company has made sales through licensing deals in six more countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, with annual revenue exceeding $12 million.

Business problems increased the pressure on the company from all sides. Moreover, disputes with the licensee of menswear products and disappointing sales, contrary to expectations, were confusing. In addition, rumors were heard that both Calvin Klein and its licensing partners, Calvin Klein Industries, which was the name of the company until then, were put up for sale. Indeed, in late 1987 it was learned that the sale of the company to Triangle Industries, a container manufacturer, was not made simply because of the erratic stock market.

Although the company faced bankruptcy in 1992, Calvin Klein launched his lingerie and perfume lines in the late 1990s. The products have become extremely popular. However, with the launch and success of the 'ck' sportswear line, his company was able to rebound and increase its profitability. John Varvatos served as Calvin Klein's head of menswear design from 1990 to 1995. During this time, he pioneered a type of men's underwear that mixes boxer briefs, boxer shorts, and briefs.

In 1992, a series of underwear commercials and TV commercials featuring hip hop star Mark "Marky Mark" Wahlberg, shot by Herb Ritts, aired, making it famous and being called "one of the greatest clothing revolutions of the century". In 1996, he was named among the 25 influential figures of the USA by Time magazine.

The following year, Klein was named "America's Top Designer" for his all-American minimalist designs. In 1999, Klein made a big splash when the company announced that it was going up for sale. LVMH and Pinault Printemps Redoute, two luxury companies that were planning to expand their business, applied to join the company, but to no avail. Then, Tommy Hilfiger Corp. and other companies, such as the Italian Holding di Partecipazioni, experienced similar disappointments. After a while, and with no potential buyers, Klein announced that his company was no longer in the market. The company also failed to go public.

In December 2002, the Calvin Klein brand was sold to Phillips Van Heusen Corp (PVH), for approximately $400 million. After this sale, Calvin Klein gradually began to withdraw from the company. He just continued to do his job as a consultant in the field of design. A year after the acquisition, Francisco Costa was appointed as the Women's Creative Director of the Calvin Klein Collection.

Designer Italo Zucchelli started in the spring of 2004 as the lead designer of the Calvin Klein Collection menswear line. He then collaborated with the company for six seasons before becoming its Male Creative Director. The company owns several perfume and cologne lines, including 'Obsession', 'CK Be' and 'Eternity'. The brand was selling perfume and related fragrance lines by 'Calvin Klein Cosmetics Company', a Unilever company, until May 2005. New York cosmetics giant 'Coty Inc.' has purchased license agreements for all fragrance lines from Unilever.

Kevin Carrigan, who has been with Calvin Klein since 1998, was named the global creative director of many of the company's related underwear brands and their licensed products.

Following the acquisition of Calvin Klein, Phillips-Van Heusen has announced plans to launch a new men's sportswear collection produced by Van Heusen. In 2020, PVH announced that as part of its animal welfare policy, the company does not use exotic leathers and will ban their use in Calvin Klein collections.

Another Hollywood star in the company's advertisements is Antonio Sabàto Jr. it happened. Other models in the brand's advertisements at the beginning of their careers are; Natalia Vodianova and Toni Garrn. The company has also worked with Christy Turlington, Jerry Hall, Travis Fimmel, Doutzen Kroes, Mini Andén, Sean O'Pry, Jamie Dornan, Liu Wen and Edward Furlong in the past.

The brand has hired to model worked some like with Eva Mendes, Mehcad Brooks, Scarlett Johansson, Kellan Lutz, Andie MacDowell, Alexander Skarsgård, Zoe Saldana, Rita Ora, Rooney Mara, Lupita Nyong'o, Margot Robbie, Saoirse Ronan, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Diane Kruger. The Calvin Klein brand currently uses Shawn Mendes, Tyson Ballou, Jennie and Lara Stone in their ads and campaigns. Also, Swedish football player Freddie Ljungberg has appeared in a number of commercials for the company. It later appeared in commercials for Calvin Klein's lingerie line ads, such as pop star Justin Bieber and model Kendall Jenner.

The role of actor and writer Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, known as Klein's mentor, in making the brand's name heard so much, is extremely important. Thanks to Gunzburg, Calvin Klein became known to the notables of America and managed to carry his name to the heights.

Among Calvin Klein's products, clothes such as bikinis, swimwear, beach clothes, pajamas, home wear, outerwear, sweaters, cardigans, jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts, shorts are offered for sale with the quality of the brand. In addition to these, Calvin Klein underwear types are among the most popular products of the brand from past to present. In addition to all these, accessories and shoes such as bags, wallets, card holders, belts, socks, jewelry, watches, beach towels, hats, gloves, scarves, shoes, slippers, sandals, boots, high heels, sneakers are the first choices of those who cannot give up on the minimalist designs of the brand. are between.

The owner of Calvin Klein has managed to bring his efforts to the present day by combining his steady work with his luck. The reason why he is among the sought-after and well-known names in the fashion world today owes to his efforts at that time.