Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is a well-known American fashion designer. In 1968, he launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc.
In addition to clothing, Calvin Klein also gave his name to a range of perfumes, including CK One and CK Be (fragrances for both genders), now owned by Coty Inc. Swatch Group manufactures watches and jewelry under the Calvin Klein and Calvin Klein Jeans brands.
Early years:
Born Richard Klein in The Bronx to Hungarian-Jewish immigrants, he attended the High School of Industrial Art and he graduated, at 20 years of age, from New York's Fashion Institute of Technology. He did his apprenticeship in 1962 at an oldline cloak-and-suit manufacturer, and spent five years designing at other New York shops. He later launched his first company with a childhood friend.
Klein was one of several design leaders raised in the Jewish immigrant community in the Bronx, New York along with Robert Denning and Ralph Lauren. Calvin Klein became a protégé of Baron de Gunzburg through whose introductions he became the toast of the New York elite fashion scene, even before he had his first mainstream success with the launch of his first jeans line. Later, speaking in an interview with Bianca Jagger and Andy Warhol for Interview magazine, published not long after the Baron's death, Klein said: "He was truly the greatest inspiration of my life... he was my mentor, I was his protégé. If you talk about a person with style and true elegance-- maybe I'm being a snob, but I'll tell you, there was no one like him. I used to think, boy, did he put me through hell sometimes, but boy, was I lucky. I was so lucky to have known him so well for so long." Calvin Klein was immediately recognized for his talent after his first major showing at New York Fashion Week. Klein was hailed as the new Yves Saint-Laurent, and was noted for his clean lines.
US Expansion:
Beginning in 2007, Calvin Klein will begin its first nationwide expansion. The stores are estimated to average 929 square feet and will stock all women and men's apparel and accessories under the Calvin Klein White Label, including sportswear, suit separates, jeanswear, underwear, outwear, footwear, eyewear, watches, and fragrance; men's tailored clothing, dress shirts, belts and women's dresses and accessories.
PVH plans to open dozens of Calvin Klein boutiques across the nation. The first five signed leases include The Beverly Center in Los Angeles, Cherry Creek Mall in Denver, The Mall At Partridge Creek in Clinton Township, Michigan, Natick Collection in Natick, Massachusetts, and Lenox Square in Atlanta, Georgia.
Depending on the success of these stores and availability in key markets, PVH hopes to open more stores in metro New York, Boston, Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Diego, Miami, Orlando, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, and Scottsdale, Arizona.[3
Personal life:
In 1964, Klein married Jayne Centre, with whom he had a daughter, Marci. Klein and Centre then filed for divorce in 1974.
In the period from 1974, Klein moved on to design the tight fitting jeans that would sell 200,000 in the first week thus simultaneously launching him into fashion designer/celebrity status in the clothing design industry. Calvin Klein was also the first designer to receive outstanding design in men’s and women’s wear from CFDA award show in the same year.
In 1986, Klein married socialite Kelly Rector (Klein) who worked for the company and is also a graduate of the Fashion Institute in NYC. She became a well known socialite photographer. They divorced in March 2006.
