Calvin Klein personal life. Calvin Klein - biography and personal life. Calvin Klein: biography

Born November 19, 1942 in the New York borough of the Bronx. At 18, he graduated from the Graduate School of Arts, then entered the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, where he studied for another two years.

Early in his career, Klein worked as a street artist, was an assistant to Dan Millstein, and also worked for several New York fashion houses.

Calvin Klein brand history

In 1968, Calvin Klein and his childhood friend Barry Schwartz founded their own firm, Calvin Klein Ltd, in New York. The partners invested $ 10,000 in start-up capital into the business. The company was located in one of the city's hotels and was an atelier specializing in the production of men's outerwear.

According to rumors, the hotel was located on the floor above the clothes, the owner of which once made a mistake with the button and ended up in Calvin Klein's atelier. He was so impressed with the young designer's products that he placed an order for $ 50,000. This is how the first commercial success came to Klein and Schwartz, which determined the future of the company.

In 1969, the name Calvin Klein became famous among the bohemians, and the designer himself first appeared on the pages.

In 1970, Klein began developing clothing for women. By adapting the classic men's suit to women's fashion, he made a real revolution. Then the brand released the PerCoat (pea jacket) - a women's double-breasted in a masculine style, which became a hit of the season and determined fashion for the next ten years.

At this time, the Calvin Klein brand had already become the perfect example of American fashion and a reflection of its basic principles. For example, the brand once again proved the fact that the fact that how the clothes are sewn and how correct and refined their cut is. In addition, the brand has promoted minimalism in design throughout its history.

In 1973, Calvin Klein won the Coty Prize for “Refined and Perfectly Made Clothing”. He became the youngest to receive this prestigious award.

In 1974, the brand presented its first collection of fur clothing and accessories.

1978 became one of the most important years in the history of the Calvin Klein brand. The brand presented to the public the world's first designer clothes, transforming them from inexpensive everyday clothes into a real work of art. Jeans from Calvin Klein have become a sign of style, great taste and an integral part of youth fashion. They had a sexy silhouette, perfectly fitted the figure and emphasized the slimness of the legs. In addition, Klein became a trendsetter in logo fashion, with a stylish leather label on the back pockets of his jeans. Later, Calvin Klein dyed the denim black and made the jeans skinny, which brought the brand an unprecedented success.

In 1980, Calvin Klein jeans were advertised by a young woman. The poster, created in collaboration with photographer Bruce Weber, featured the young model in a seductive pose, with the caption below: "Do you know there is nothing between me and my jeans?" The poster provoked a real scandal in America, the brand was accused of attracting an underage girl for such a provocative advertisement, as a result of which the jeans were discontinued. Only in 1998 the brand resumed the production of this model.

In 1982, under the Calvin Klein brand, the production of men's underwear began, which later became legendary. The wide elastic band with the Calvin Klein inscription made the brand's underwear recognizable. In an advertising campaign, the brand for the first time showed a half-naked male body as a subject of aesthetics.

Briefs, Calvin Klein RUB 1,800

Briefs, Calvin Klein RUB 2,000

Briefs, Calvin Klein RUB 1,700

The 80s of the last century were marked by an incredible growth in the company's revenues. In revenues of over $ 600 million, the brand's clothing was sold in stores throughout the United States and was available in six other countries.

Another 80s revolution from Calvin Klein is the creation of unisex style. The brand offered something that no one could think of before and presented a collection, things from which both boys and girls could wear with equal success. In support of the collection, an advertisement was released, in which rapper Marky Mark also took part. The novelty from Calvin Klein was sold more than successfully.

The brand has always reacted with lightning speed to changing fashion trends and promptly offered its own solutions. For example, on the threshold of the 21st century, Calvin Klein was one of the first to develop and promote the style, releasing knee pads, overcoats and khaki colors.

1992 was marked by reorganization. As you know, the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. In 1993, the brand launched a budget line of stylish youth clothing. A little later, the Calvin Klein lingerie line was sold to Warnaco Group Inc.

Scandals

A rare Calvin Klein ad campaign has gone without scandals and litigation. No one disputes the opinion that it was on the scandals that Klein built his unique one, making them part of the brand's style. In addition to the already mentioned incident with Brooke Shields, Calvin Klein has been prosecuted several times.

In the 1980s, the brand ran an ad for The Last Supper by Klein, which featured a famous biblical story, but featured half-naked models in jeans. Puritan society was shocked, the Church sued Klein for a million dollars, which the court ordered to pay.

Calvin Klein perfume

The launch of the perfume line was one of the factors that influenced the success of the company. Despite the fact that the first attempt to create a perfume in the 70s was unsuccessful, further activities in this area brought the brand enormous profits. In 1989, Calvin Klein bought a perfume license from Unilever.

7 chose

Among ordinary people, his name is everyday, among the bigwigs of the show and fashion industries - an indispensable scandal. His life is like a "roller coaster", but at the same time he managed to reach such heights that today there is a joke in the United States: "Calvin Klein is a genetic memory." Hollywood stars adore him. He is considered one of the most influential people in the world. And today he turns 68 ...

Name - Calvin Richard Klein
Date of Birth – November 19, 1942
Place of Birth – Bronx, New York, USA
Profession – fashion designer
A family – divorced; daughter Marcy
Eye color - gray-blue
Hair color – fair-haired

Calvin Richard Klein.

Who would have thought in the distant war 1942 that the second son of the Kleins, Hungarian Jewish emigrants, Kelvin Richard, was destined to become great.

Although when the question "What do you want to do in life?" little Kelvin replied: "Sew clothes", no one was surprised. From childhood, the boy was surrounded by female attention and spent his days in a textile store, where his grandmother Molly worked, and his mother Flor worked as a dressmaker. Therefore, Kelvin was familiar with young nails with what patterns are and "what they are eaten with".

Such a hobby did not evoke warm feelings and responses from his peers - the boy was a constant object of ridicule. Kelvin's only friend during this period was Barry Schwartz.

After high school, Kelvin was determined to pursue a design education. And so he enters the New York Graduate School of Industrial Design. It should be noted that Klein's teachers did not even suspect that among their students there was a genius, considering Kelvin a rather mediocre fashion designer. But after school, the future star continues her studies and goes to the New York Fashion Institute of Technology, during her studies in which, in order to somehow make ends meet, she moonlights as a street artist.

Klein's first place of work "in profile" was the position of an assistant at the New York clothing center. But routine and meager salary did not dispose to continue a career there.

1964 brought changes to Kelvin's life in his personal life - Klein married his girlfriend Jane Center, who gave birth to his daughter Marcy. But after 10 years the marriage will break up and in 1986 his assistant Kelly Rector will become Kelvin's wife, with whom the designer will live until 1997.

The next round in Kelvin's career happened when the future couturier almost despaired of realizing himself as a creative person. But thanks to his father, who found words and encouraged his son in a difficult period, and his devoted friend Barry Schwartz, who believed in his talent and strength and found money, the brand was created Calvin klein.

The models of the new brand were distinguished by simple cut and restrained colors, which later became the brand's trademark.

For the first models of women's coats, the sketches sketched by Kelvin at previous jobs and rejected by the employer were very useful.

Mr. Klein received his first major order ... by accident. It was all the fault of the buyer's inaccurately written address for a large department store: he made the wrong floor, but when he saw Kelvin's models, he made an order for 50 thousand dollars.

Needless to say, how much this accident inspired Klein. New collections came out one after another. The designer worked around the clock. And the result was not long in coming: the collections dispersed with a bang, and in 1973 Kelvin was awarded his first design prize in his life. Coty Award.

It turned out to be not so profitable to create a coat. And jeans and ... a scandal became the real salvation of the fashion designer.

1978 year. The advertising campaign for the jeans collection, starring 13-year-old Brooke Shields, literally blew up the public. She was even honored with a discussion in Parliament. The fashion designer was accused of all deadly sins from the distribution of pornography to pedophilia. But the words that flew from the lips of a young nymphet: "Do you know what's between me and Calvin Klein jeans? Nothing!" did their job - sales were off the charts. And the jeans themselves were nicknamed "Kelvins".

In the same year, blackmailers kidnap Kelvin's daughter for ransom. But thanks to the empathy and support of the public, as well as the designer's willingness to hand over the ransom to the kidnappers, Marcy will be returned safe and sound.

After that, the scandal became an integral part of history. Calvin klein... The designer has repeatedly had to publicly apologize for the "ambiguity" of his images. But at the same time, collect an incredible harvest from sales.

The second milestone in Calvin Klein's career was men's underwear, which the fashion designer managed to elevate to the rank of not only a convenient accessory, but also an object of worship for all fashionistas. And what is characteristic, the maestro remained true to his principle - simplicity and brevity.

Now the concept of "unisex" is quite common and it is difficult to surprise. But it arose precisely thanks to Calvin Klein, who released the fragrance cK one and became the pioneer of such a market segment as "unisex" products. And played a big role here Kate moss, which became the personification of this phenomenon.

The fans of the brand are Sandra Bulock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston, Helen Hunt despite the fact that now Calvin Klein is no longer its owner.

The designer himself estimates his success this way: " I love simplicity. I like cleanliness. I love everything modern. But it should excite the imagination and be interesting. Fashion is changeable, but its philosophy remains unchanged for me: clothes should be truly modern and make a woman truly beautiful.".

Calvin Klein is a renowned American fashion designer. K. Klein was born on November 19, 1942 in the Bronx, in the family of an entrepreneur.

Kelvin's creativity manifested itself in his childhood. He entered the Graduate School of Art, which he graduated at the age of eighteen, after which he studied for a couple more years at the New York Institute of Fashion.

In 1964 Kelvin married J. Sente. The young couple had a daughter, Marcy, but the marriage did not last long - ten years later (in 1978) it broke up.

K. Klein's career began as an assistant to designer Dan Milstein. In the period from 1962 to 1968 K. Klein worked in various fashion houses in New York. From time to time he worked as a street artist.

Over time, the young designer decided to create his own clothing production. Together with his childhood friend Barry Schwartz, Kelvin created Calvin Klein Ltd. Initially, this company produced outerwear for men, and then began to design women's clothing. The new company succeeded quite quickly. In 1980, model Brooke Shields advertised the first Calvin Klein jeans. Two years later, the company established the production of men's underwear.

In 1989, Calvin Klein bought the perfume license. In 1992, the firm underwent a reorganization, in which the popular musician David Geffen took part. A year later, the public was presented with a budget version of Calvin Klein's fashionable clothing.

In 1995, the main store for Calvin Klein opened in a shopping center on Madison Avenue. In 1999, a store began operating in Kent, and then a boutique was opened in Manchester.

In the 2000s, Calvin Klein had to take part in a number of court proceedings. He took turns in litigation with his wife K. Rector, with the Warnaco Group, even with the Catholic Church. K. Klein entered the history of American fashion as a marketing genius, an acknowledged master of fashion and a charismatic image maker.

In the 1970s, K. Klein was the first fashion designer to seriously engage in the production of denim products. After the expansion of the denim assortment and the scandalous campaign from fifteen-year-old Brooke Shields, the Calvin Klein brand became a real success. The brand's sales in the following year increased from twenty-five to one hundred and eighty million dollars.

Scandalous advertising campaigns have become an integral part of Calvin Klein's professional image. In the 1980s, he shocked American fashion fans by creating a new trendy youth style - unisex. In advertising posters from the time, boys and girls wore the same denim by Calvin Klein. The idea of ​​unisex youth clothing was received “with a bang”, the youth literally swept away fashion items from the unisex collection from the store shelves.

K. Klein has always practiced an innovative approach to fashion. Not only did he come up with a unisex style, he was also the first to dye jeans black and also make them skinny. The success of the skinny denim models has been overwhelming. Jeans have experienced a new round of popularity - the new models not only looked great, but also fit perfectly on the figure.

The end of the 1980s was marked by unisex. Klein released fragrances for women and men and offered his clients models of women's underwear styled as boxers.

Calvin Klein literally lived in fashion, was obsessed with it. Having become one of the most famous designers in the United States, he did not lose interest in the development of new models, on the contrary, he tried to surpass himself. Huge efficiency, rich imagination, inexhaustible creative energy - all this helped the designer to release collections one after another, and each of his new line surpassed the previous one in success.

In the development and creation of fashionable clothes, K. Klein decided to focus on sexuality. He was right. Distinctive features of K. Klein's clothing models are minimalism, simple cut and bright sexuality. For sewing clothes, the designer uses the best fabrics: wool, natural cotton, etc., which makes his clothes beautiful, safe and comfortable. All things from Calvin Klein are luxury class.

Today Calvin Klein is not just a name or a brand. This is a whole fashion empire that has achieved success in Europe and America and is actively conquering the East, opening its fashion boutiques in Kuwait, Jakarta and Hong Kong. Calvin Klein's annual turnover is $ 5 billion today.

He was not afraid of scandalousness and its most daring manifestations, even when he was accused of gay propaganda. It is with these words that I want to start a story about one of the revolutionaries of his era - Calvin Klein. Architect, designer, entrepreneur and trendsetter - we understand how Klein managed to become such and infect others with his views on fashion and female beauty.

Biography and personal life

Now Calvin Klein is 75 years old, 35 of which he dedicated to the Calvin Klein brand of the same name. The designer was born on November 19, 1942 in the Bronx, New York county, into a Jewish family: his mother was named Flor Stern, and his father was Lev Klein, and it was he, being an average entrepreneur, who instilled in the young guy the desire to build a business. It was money that was the primary goal when starting a business. Living in an upper-middle-class family, Klein was free to choose his profession and could safely rely on his parents' capital when he entered the New York Higher School of Art and Design at the age of 18.

He completed his first education with two years at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Between 1962 and 1968, Klein worked part-time in fashion houses as a design assistant, helped at Dan Milstein's atelier, and was a street artist.

Feeling his little influence in the fashion industry, the young designer decided to found Calvin Klein, Ltd with his childhood friend Barry Schwartz. Klein was involved in the creative part, and Barry acted as the financier. The duo proved to be successful, and within a year the Calvin Klein brand fell in love with Americans who yearn for simplicity and comfort.

Choosing fashion as a sphere of business formation, Klein responsibly approached not only the appearance of the brand, but also his own. The designer did not neglect expensive suits, styling and tanning. He always looked like a brand, which was a strategically correct decision, because when looking at the founder of the brand, clients compared his image with products from Calvin Klein.

Klein was married twice: first to a colleague - textile designer Jane Sisters, from whom he had a daughter, Marcy, and after breaking up with the Sisters in 1974, the designer found happiness with his assistant Kelly Rector and lived with her from 1986 to 2006. Kelly subsequently became a renowned interior designer and photographer.

Calvin Klein and Kelly Rector on the cover of Vanity Fair

Brand nameCalvinKlein

We already know that the origins of Calvin Klein were two: Calvin Klein himself and his confidant and friend Barry Schwartz. By the way, the acquaintance of friends took place thanks to Klein's father, because at the time of their acquaintance, Schwartz worked in the supermarket of his father, a designer in Harlem. Barry only invested $ 10,000 to get started, and it more than paid off.

The company's office and boutique were located in one of the hotel rooms, and the first collection was presented in the lobby. The debut even impressed the hotel owner, who subsequently ordered $ 50,000 worth of things.

The courage and youthful maximalism of ambitious guys was not to be held. One demonstrative act demonstrates pronounced courage: Mildred Castin, a buyer of the Bonwit Teller store founded in 1895, wanted to look at Calvin Klein things. When a woman wanted to get exclusive rights to sell one of the collections, Kelvin categorically refused her in this. And this is not the only such case, because Klein has more than once had the opportunity to defend both the authenticity of the collections, the choice of young models, and the rights of the company.

Popularity came to Calvin Klein in the 70s - then the first things produced under the label were outerwear for men, and later for women. The real breakthrough at that time was the PeaCoat model (pea jacket) - a double-breasted short coat with wide lapels - which lasted more than a decade in fashion favorites. With the release of the first lines, it became clear that the design was based on minimalism.

“Even the most modest dress can be the height of luxury, since the decisive criterion of style is not what, but how it is sewn,” said Calvin Klein.

This principle manifested itself in everything: delicate lines, calm shades, boutique interiors, natural make-up of models in lookbooks, advertising campaigns and at shows. In 1978, being on the crest of popularity, Klein surprises the public with the launch of his own line of jeans and automatically becomes the first to take such a step among fashion designers. He was right, because what, if not denim, personifies American society. As a result, the team sold $ 70 million worth of jeans in a year.

Kept in step with minimalism sexuality which Klein portrayed in places with apprehension, in places with bravado bordering on vulgarity (the brand's advertising campaigns were often compared to teen porn). Despite this, the designer managed to refrain from attacks from skeptics and skillfully manipulate the primitive desires of people with the help of veiled sexuality. A striking example is the advertising campaigns for the iconic Obsession perfume. The fragrance is the company's third attempt in the perfumery segment and the most successful. And it was the advertising campaign that made him such, analysts say. The company spent $ 13 million on its creation, and the concept was based solely on carnal pleasures that so attracted the younger generation. The photo showed a very young Kate Moss with topless breasts, and naked "Atlanteans" as perfectly built male models. Advertising became one of the catalysts for the body cult of gay culture, which Klein brought into heterosexual society.

The peak of the brand's popularity was in the 80s. The simplicity of the design fell in love with the new generation, who wanted to move away from the bombasticity of disco with its abundance of sequins, acid colors and bulky accessories and plunge into an atmosphere of carefree. Calvin Klein's clean and unobtrusive design of trouser suits, shirt dresses and perfect fit jeans gave the American society a sense of lightness. It was possible to work in the brand's clothes both on the farm and to go to a closed fashion club. Versatility was everything for Klein, but he also presented it as something exclusive.

Since the 90s, the brand's collections have been imbued with ideas from the Japanese underground. From the usual sports style, only a train has remained - the models are becoming stricter, more demanding and more abstract.

Tom Hintnaus through the lens of Bruce Weber

It's no secret that the emphasis was on the lingerie line, especially the underpants, which were touted as an exceptional piece of clothing. Klein made a bet and was right - every teenager wanted to show the elastic band of pants with the Calvin Klein logo, peeking out from under the jeans. In order to popularize the line as much as possible, the design team again exploited the theme of sex. The brand spent several hundred thousand for the legendary shoot of photographer Bruce Weber with the participation of athlete Tom Hintnaus (which is only worth Weber's fee of $ 50,000!). The expenses paid off after a year - the brand sold $ 4 million worth of panties.

Klein sold the brand to Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation in 2002 for $ 430 million.

The image of a woman inCalvinKlein

The most significant role in the history of the brand was played by Kate Moss and Brooke Shields, who became legends not only of their era, but also of Calvin Klein. Brooke Shields first appeared in a Calvin Klein ad campaign when she was 15 years old. Despite her young age, she already had experience working with brands and even managed to reincarnate as a young prostitute for the movie "Pretty Child".

Therefore, the image of a certain Lolita with an alluring gaze attracted the audience from the first seconds. Her signature question: "Do you want to know what is between me and my Calvin Klein jeans?" - after which came the corona response "Nothing", created a trusting atmosphere between the buyer and the brand. Smart marketing did its job, and all the girls who wore jeans from Calvin Klein automatically became sexier in the eyes of others.

Brooke Shields for Calvin Klein

Brooke Shields and Calvin Klein

The second muse after Brooke was the "innocent child" of fashion, as she was called - Kate Moss. The girl appeared in advertising images for the brand in 1992, when the company needed fresh blood and attract a new, young audience. Castings, where models like Cindy Crawford came, did not bear fruit until the Englishwoman Kate Moss entered the room.

A year later, all campaigns dazzled with her image: she acted as a lingerie model and starred for perfumes. By the way, one of the advertising campaigns for the Obsession fragrance was not missed by censorship due to its sexual connotation; it was made public only a few years later: in the video, a minor Moss poses nude on the ocean shore. Kate is still filming for Calvin Klein and is his loyal ambassador.

Summing up, we can say that the girl of the American brand is fixated on youth, which literally exudes sexuality. Sometimes it borders on eroticism, but it manifests it indirectly, through hints and hidden meanings. The Calvin Klein girl, at least at the time, was supposed to have an attractive look, a chiseled feminine figure and be sexually liberated.

What now?

Raf Simons collection for Calvin Klein FW'18 / 19

At the moment, the creative director of the fashion house is the Belgian designer Raf Simons. The brand is exported to more than 100 countries and in 2017 had sales of $ 9.1 billion. Calvin Klein returned to the spotlight with the #mycalvins ad campaign featuring Bella Hadid, Justin Bieber, Kendall Jenner, FKAtwigs. Frank Ocean, Kate Moss and even Grace Coddington shared what they do in Calvin Klein underwear. By inviting the heroes of our time - popular rappers, fashion industry influencers, musicians and models - the representatives of the marketing department did not fail and immediately got the attention and money of the coveted Generation Z.

Each subsequent campaign fell in love with the public as the first - whether it was resonant photos with the Kardashian-Jenner clan, or the Gerber family with Cindy Crawford's daughter Kaia and son Presley, or pictures of half-naked models against the background of paintings in the gallery. Simons is also very attentive to the choice of ambassadors: for example, he was one of the first to spot the young actress Millie Boby Brown and shoot her in the campaign.

The story with Kate Moss repeated itself, but unlike Moss, Boby Brown poses in clothes and does not highlight his teenage sexuality, hiding it behind a universal beauty. Loving masculinity, Simons leaves less room for eroticism than Klein, but demonstrates its deeper meaning. With the release of the Fall 2017 collection under the leadership of Simons (before him the post of creative director was held by the Brazilian designer Francisco Costa), the fashion industry realized that the "old" Calvin Klein would not return. Of course, the genius Simons, working for Dior and the brand of the same name. fed up with intelligent and inventive design.

“Raf has modernized and shaped fashion as we see it today, and under his leadership, Calvin Klein will further strengthen its position as the world's leading lifestyle brand,” Calvin Klein CEO Steve Schiffman said at the time.

Raf Simons debut collection for Calvin Klein Fall 17

Raf Simons' debut line for the brand included several variations on the theme of business suits. The designer diluted the strict male looks with bright green and red shades. The collection contains frank transparent dresses, tops, as well as raincoats and jackets, which the designer advises to wear on a naked body as an homage to sexuality. The collection itself was a clear reference to American culture, as well as several subsequent ones. Simons draws the lion's share of inspiration from art, including the American one, placing the work of artists on his products. It is worth remembering only the brand's recent collaboration with the Andy Warhol Foundation, which allows fashion houses to use all the pieces from the Warhol collection.

Raf's salary is rumored to be $ 18 million a year, and we are confident that it will pay off in full. Calvin Klein's revenue for the three months ended February 4, 2018 increased by 23%, which in monetary terms is $ 977 million, and profit from $ 69 million for the same period last year increased to $ 79 million.