Iconic Designer | Calvin Klein

1942 - On Thursday 19th November, Calvin Klein is born in the Bronx, New York City. Inspired by his mother’s love of fashion, and learning to sketch and alter garments at his grandmother’s dress shop, Calvin develops a passion for clothing design.

1960 - Calvin Klein enrols at the acclaimed Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. In the midst of his studies, Klein takes on his first job in the fashion industry as a copyboy at fashion trade journal WWD.

1963 - Klein graduates from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) with a Fine Arts degree. Following his graduation, Klein works as a sketcher for coat manufacturer Dan Millstein before moving on to a new role at Halldon Ltd, which specialises in faux fur outerwear.

1968 - With hopes to create a collection of “youthful, understated coats and dresses”, Klein sets up his first shop in the York Hotel in New York. Determined to make a name for himself, Klein borrows some much-needed money from his lifelong friend and future business partner, Barry Schwartz. Klein takes a sizeable $50,000 order from buyer Bonwit Teller, marking the beginning of the designer’s success.

1969 - Calvin Klein features for the first time on the cover of Vogue magazine. The cover features model Susan Schoenberg wearing a Calvin Klein coat, capturing the attention of the fashion world.

1970 - Calvin Klein holds his first fashion show. Despite a very low production cost — to the sum of around $10,000 — the designer’s debut presentation is a huge success. Showcasing Klein’s contemporary and clean-cut designs for the modern woman, the show causes a buzz within the fashion landscape and word spreads, naming Calvin Klein as “the next big thing in fashion”.

1973 - Klein wins his first Coty American Fashion Critics award for creating a new category of fresh, modern sportswear. He will go on to win the award again the following year alongside up-and-coming American designer Ralph Lauren.

1975 - The brand’s revenue hits $17 million and Klein becomes the youngest designer to be voted into the Coty Hall of Fame at the age of just 33. His reinvention of casual denim — in the form of slim-fit jeans — changes the game for men’s and women’s wear, and jeans become a high-fashion item.

1976 – Just under a decade after he first set up his fashion enterprise, Calvin Klein’s licensing deals alone make the company $6 million. The designer appoints Hermine Mariaux — a former director at Valentino — to head up the brand’s list of profitable license agreements.

1977 – In line with the success of his womenswear collection, Calvin Klein extends his signature style to launch a line of menswear pieces.

1982 - Calvin Klein expands his ever-growing empire and begins to design underwear, which, by 1984, will result in sales of over $600 million. The line becomes famous for its celebrity-faced marketing campaigns and signature branded waistbands.

1985 – A few years later, Klein takes a new leap into the world of cosmetic goods, launching his very own fragrance. Obsession — fronted by Kate Moss as the face of the campaign — would become one of the most coveted scents on the market.

1988 - Following the popularity of Obsession, Klein launches Eternity, which grosses $35 million by the end of its first year and remains his most successful perfume to date.

1993 - The ’90s become a turning point for the company. Named as ‘America’s Best Designer’, Calvin Klein focuses his attention on a younger audience, presenting his streamlined, laid-back aesthetic through attention-grabbing advertising campaigns that capture the attention of this lucrative market.

1995 – Calvin Klein hits the big screen in the form of a strappy white dress sported by actress Alicia Silverstone in the ’90s cult classic Clueless — with a scripted name-drop to match! Klein’s youthful and understated style becomes a fashion go-to for the young and trendy.

2001 - Calvin Klein receives the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designs of America (CFDA). The designer secures the coveted title alongside fashion royalty Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.

2003 - PVH Corp, formerly known as the Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation, unites the Calvin Klein underwear, sportwear and jeans lines in a $2.8 billion-dollar deal. Calvin Klein steps back from having creative control but works as a creative advisor. By 2010, PVH Corp estimates the ready-to-wear element of Calvin Klein to produce sales in excess of €4.6 billion dollars.

2018 - Calvin Klein Jeans launches its first fashion line for children, starting with a 98-piece collection inspired by the West Coast surf and skate scenes of the 1970s.

2020 - Present day sees the brand’s global success continue to evolve, maintaining the designer’s original aesthetic for elegant wearability, reinvented season after season for a modern, fashion-forward crowd.