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
