Calvin Richard Klein

November 19, 1942

Bronx, New York

American fashion designer

Marta KlinkerNYFW for Spring ‘09

• Studied Fashion in Manhattan (Institute of Technology 1962)

• Founder of the Calvin Klein label (1968)

• Began as coat designer

• First designer ever to win 3 consecutive Coty Awards* for women’s wear (1973-75)

• 1975: already a celebrity

• Sold company to Phillips Van Heusen Corp for $400 m. (2002)

FACTS ABOUT CK

* Coty American Fashion Critics' Awards is the highest praise that can be awarded in clothing. It’s the "Oscars" of the clothing world.

IN THE NEWS(1980s)

REAGAN BECAME PRESIDENT ( 1981)

FIRST WOMAN IN SUPREME COURT (1981)

BERLIN WALL REMOVED ( 1989)

BINGE* BUYING AND CREDIT BECAME A LIFESTYLE

DEATH OF JOHN LENNON (1980)

* Binge: A period of uncontrolled self-indulgence

80S FASHION FLASHBACK

OPULENT STYLE

BIG SHOULDER PADS BIG HAIR BIG ACCESSORIES

Women Dress for Success

19

80

s IN

FA

SH

ION

DANCEWEAR MIAMI VICE LOOK

ACID WASHED JEANS

MADONNA STIRRUP PANTS

CALVIN KLEIN ’S STYLE

• Classic, minimalist

• Clean lines

• Neutral colors

• No frills or ruffles

• Strapless, sculptural

Spring 2001 Ready-to-Wear

Spring 2003 Ready-to-Wear

"My personal philosophy of style is simplicity. Minimalism to me is the sexiest quality a man or  woman can posses."

Calvin Klein

KLEIN: PIONEER

“Nothing comes between me

and my Calvins,”

Controversial ad campaign

(sexually-suggestive)

Unisex perfume –revolution in

fragrance market.

Desirable men’s underwear

rather than merely functional.

women’s underwear that

looked like men’s jockey

shorts

CK for Spring/Summer RTW 2009

Francisco Costa: Creative director (2002)

CK for Spring/Summer RTW 2009

SOURCES

• 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.

• “Calvin Klein Biography”. Notables biographies. 23 September 2008.http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ki-Lo/Klein-Calvin.html

• “Who’s Who”. Informat. 18 January 2007. 28 September 2008. http://www.infomat.com/whoswho/calvinklein.html