Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein is a renowned American fashion designer, celebrated for his minimalist aesthetic and innovative approach to design. Founded in 1968, his brand quickly gained prominence, expanding to include a wide range of products such as Calvin Klein Jeans, men's and women's apparel, and fragrances like Obsession and Eternity. Klein's upbringing in the Bronx and his early exposure to fashion through family influences, including a seamstress grandmother, shaped his career path.
His unique vision led to the launch of iconic products, notably the provocative Calvin Klein Jeans campaign featuring Brooke Shields, which sparked both popularity and controversy. Despite facing significant challenges, including financial struggles and personal battles with addiction, Klein's resilience allowed him to recover and diversify his brand. He later sold the Calvin Klein label for over $700 million and continued to impact the fashion industry, inspiring designers and garnering numerous accolades throughout his career. Klein's influence remains evident among celebrities and in contemporary fashion, making him a significant figure in the industry's history.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Calvin Klein
Fashion designer
- Born: November 19, 1942
- Place of Birth: Place of birth: New York City
Education:Fashion Institute of Technology
Significance:Calvin Klein is one of the world’s top fashion designers. Dubbed "the Supreme Master of Minimalism," Klein created a fashion brand that is both simple and stylish. Since the inception of Calvin Klein Ltd. in 1968, Klein expanded his brand to include his famous Calvin Klein Jeans, women’s and men’s apparel, coats, hosiery, eyewear, swimwear, accessories, and the popular fragrances Obsession, Eternity, and Escape.
Background
The second of three children, Calvin Richard Klein was born on November 19, 1942, in a middle-class, Jewish section of the Bronx. His father, Leo, arrived in the United States from Budapest when he was five. Leo worked long hours at the family’s grocery store, where Calvin often visited him and learned how to price merchandise. Klein’s mother, Flore "Flo" Stern, the daughter of an American dentist and an Austrian immigrant, enjoyed sketching clothing designs. However, it was his grandmother Molly, a seamstress, who inspired Klein to become a fashion designer.
Klein—a self-described loner—spent his free time sewing and sketching designs while the other kids in the neighborhood played sports. He also enjoyed accompanying his mother on her many shopping trips to discount clothing stores.
Klein attended the High School of Art and Design and later the prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology. After graduating in 1962, he worked for five years as an apprentice at a coat company on Seventh Avenue, for which he was paid $75 a week.
Life's Work
Calvin Klein was intent on starting his own fashion company—even though he was only twenty-six and still working at his family’s grocery store to make ends meet. In 1968, he founded Calvin Klein, Ltd. using his savings, a mere $2,000, and $10,000 that he borrowed from his long-time friend Barry Schwartz.
The trend in design at this time was to copy the work of other designers, but Klein’s creations were unique. He landed his first major sale by accident when a coat buyer from Bonwit Teller, a large New York City department store, wandered into his tiny workroom after getting off on the wrong floor. She was so impressed with Klein’s coats and dresses that she placed an order for $50,000—an enormous amount of money at the time. Klein’s clothing was displayed in eight windows of the department store. His youthful, unpretentious designs were also featured in Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue. Klein soon added a line of designer sportswear to his label, and his work garnered praise by both the fashion industry and the public.
Klein is credited for inspiring the designer jeans trend of the 1970s when he unveiled his tight-fitting Calvin Klein Jeans with his name on the back pocket. Stores had trouble keeping the jeans in stock—consumers were purchasing more than forty-thousand pairs a week. Klein used a provocative advertising campaign to sell the jeans. The ads featured fifteen-year-old Brooke Shields wearing the jeans (in a size smaller than she usually wore) and asserting: "Nothing comes between me and my Calvins." The sexy ad campaign sold jeans—two-hundred-thousand pairs the week after the first ads were launched—but it also ignited controversy. Gloria Steinem called the ads pornographic and felt they incited violence against women.
Klein’s next move was to design sexy underwear for both men and women. In 1982, he began selling briefs for women and tight-fitting boxers and briefs for men. His ads showcased beefy men wearing only the underwear. These ads also generated criticism and controversy but ultimately proved successful.
Klein’s rise to the top of the fashion industry was not without setbacks and struggles. Klein married his first wife, Jayne Centre, in 1964. However, his ambition and perfectionism left little time for Jayne and their daughter, Marci. The couple divorced in 1974.
In 1983, Klein entered into a business deal that nearly ended Calvin Klein, Ltd. Klein purchased Puritan Jeans, a designer jeans company, for $65.8 million. While the acquisition seemed like a logical step, the timing was off. The rising number of AIDS cases ended the casual sexuality of the 1970s. The demand for tight, designer jeans plummeted, and Klein wound up in serious debt.
Klein’s reputation also suffered a blow as rumors spread that he was dying of AIDS. Klein was struggling with addiction to vodka and Valium at the time and entered the Hazelden Clinic in Minnesota. By the time he left rehab, he was nearly bankrupt. Fortunately, a friend—multibillionaire David Geffen—bailed him out, and Klein was able to launch several new product lines, including CK, a line of affordable apparel. Klein also entered the home décor and cosmetics markets.
Klein's penchant for risqué advertising landed him in hot water with the FBI. Launched in 1995, the jean ads featured young teens in sexually explicit poses. Anti-pornography advocates were outraged, and the ads were denounced by President Bill Clinton. The FBI and the Department of Justice investigated Klein’s company for child pornography violations. Klein pulled the ads, which the Department of Justice eventually concluded were not pornography. The controversy did not affect the sales of Klein’s products, however.
In 2003, clothing company Phillips van Heusen purchased the Calvin Klein brand for more than $700 million. Klein published Calvin Klein in 2017 during his retirement. The book is a survey of his career and contains many photographs of his designs.
Impact
Calvin Klein’s minimalist designs have influenced other fashion designers such as Donna Karan and Miuccia Prada. Klein is a favorite designer among Hollywood actresses Julia Roberts, Gwynth Paltrow, and Helen Hunt.
Klein has received numerous, prestigious awards including the Coty Award in 1972, 1973, and 1973, the Council of Fashion Designers of America Award in 1982, 1983, and 1986, and the America’s Best Designer Award in 1993. Klein was named one of Time magazine’s "25 Most Influential Americans" in 1996.
Personal
Calvin Klein married Jayne Centre in 1964. The couple had one daughter, Marci, before divorcing in 1974. Klein married socialite Kelly Rector in 1987; they divorced in 2006. Klein’s daughter Marci is an Emmy-award-winning producer best known for her work on the television series 30 Rock.
Bibliography
Adegeest, Don-Alvin. "What's Next for Calvin Klein?" Fashion United, 31 May 2024, fashionunited.com/news/fashion/whats-next-for-calvin-klein/2024053160146. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
"Calvin Klein Biography." Notable Biographies. Encyclopedia of World Biographies, n.d. Web. 14 July 2016.
"Calvin Klein Biography." Wonderlabel, 12 July 2024, wunderlabel.com/lab/fashion-designer/calvin-klein-biography/. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
"Calvin Klein, Fashion Designer." Fashion Infomat. Infomat, Inc., n.d. Web. 14 July 2016.
"Calvin Klein: A Stylish Obsession." Entrepreneur, 10 Oct. 2008. Web. 14 July 2016.
Craven, Jo. "Calvin Klein." Vogue, 11 May 2011. Web. 14 July 2016.
Gaines, Steven and Sharon Churcher. Obsession: The Lives and Times of Calvin Klein.New York: Carol Publishing Group, 1994. Print.
Sischy, Ingrid. "Calvin to the Core." Vanity Fair, Apr. 2008. Web. 14 July 20.