Ok, who hasn’t heard of the fashion designer Calvin Klein? Most remembered are the Calvin Klein underwear models and if you can remember the 1985 box office hit Back to the Future, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) was called “Calvin” by his younger mother Lorraine (Lea Thompson) because he was wearing purple Calvin Klein underwear.
Calvin Richard Klein was born in the Bronx on November 19th, 1942 to Hungarian-Jewish immigrants. After attending the High School of Industrial Art he went on to graduate from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. In 1962 Klein began his career as an apprentice at a cloak-and-suit manufacturer. Then in 1968, with $10,000 and the help of his childhood friend Barry Schwartz, Klein founded Calvin Klein Ltd. and setup shop in the York Hotel, in New York city. The company made coats and got its first big break when Bonwit Teller found Klein and helped the company create their first collection of men’s and women’s coats to be featured at their store.
In 1969 Calvin Klein graced the cover of Vogue magazine and within the next two years he added classic blazers, sportswear, and lingerie to his women’s line.
Sales rose to $30 million by 1977 and he had added shoes, scarves, belts, furs, sunglasses, and even bed sheets to his repertoire. By 1981 Fortune magazine estimated Klein’s personal income to be around $8.5 million per year. It was Calvin Klein that created the crazy for designer jeans when he put his name on the back pocket of his jeans in the late 1970s.
And when the jeans were advertised by a then 15-year-old Brooke Shields with the famous lines “nothing comes between me and my Calvins” and “I’ve got seven Calvins in my closet, and if they could talk, I’d be ruined”, the brand was taken to new heights. Brooke Shields later advertised Calvin Klein underwear in 1984.
By 1974 Calvin Klein clothes were being sold in over 12,000 stores worldwide and was producing more than $600 million in retail sales.
But the 1980s brought high employee turnover and disappointing sales which led to the decision to put the company up for sale. The company was nearly sold to Triangle Industries in 1987 but the crashing stock market derailed the deal.
Facing bankruptcy in 1992, Calvin Klein managed to turn the company around and increase profits with the help of a successful underwear, fragrance, and sportswear line and was honored in 1993 by being named “America’s Best Designer” for his all-American, minimalist style.
Calvin again shocked the industry when he put the company up for sale in 1999. There were several suitors including Tommy Hilfiger Corp but Klein’s $1 billion asking price was too steep.
Calvin Klein Inc. (CKI) is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Phillips-Van Heusen Corp (PVH) after it sold in 2002 for about $400 million in cash, $30 million in stock, and another $200-$300 million in licensing rights and royalties.
Though Mr. Klein initially stayed on as a consulting creative director, he has since stepped back from the business.
Entries (RSS)