Calvin Klein - biography and personal life. Sexuality is not a vice: all about designer Calvin Klein and his brand Calvin Klein fashion designer
1. Calvin Klein was born November 19, 1942 in the New York area of the Bronx in a family of Hungarian Jews who immigrated to the United States. His grandmother worked as a dressmaker, and thanks to her Klein learned to sew.
2. Calvin Klein graduated from the High School of Art and Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology. In 2003, he was named its honorary doctorate.
3. In 1964, Klein married Jane Senter. The designer's first marriage lasted 10 years and ended in a scandalous separation.
4. In 1968, Calvin Klein founded Calvin Klein Inc with an initial capital of $10,000. The money was given to Klein by childhood friend Barry Schwartz.
5. Initially, only menswear was produced under the Calvin Klein brand. After rave reviews from the fashion press (in 1969, Klein appeared on the pages of American Vogue), the designer decided to supplement the collections with a line of women's clothing and underwear.
6. Klein was the first to introduce the men's double-breasted coat into the women's wardrobe. He was the first to create a collection of lingerie, in which he adapted men's boxers with a wide elastic band.
7. In 1973, Klein received the prestigious Coty American Fashion Critics Award and became the youngest designer in history to receive the award. Subsequently, Klein received the Coty Award twice: in 1974 and in 1975.
10. Calvin Klein's daughter Marcy is a well-known television producer and a four-time Emmy Award winner. She is the co-producer of one of the most popular television shows in the US, Saturday Night Live on NBC.
11. In 1986, Klein married for the second time to photographer Kelly Rector, an employee of his company. However, this marriage lasted enough: the couple divorced in 2006.
12. After breaking up with his second wife, Calvin Klein announced his homosexuality. Until 2012, he dated porn star Nick Gruber, who was 48 years younger than Klein.
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Among ordinary people, his name is everyday life, among the bigwigs of the show and fashion industry - 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 USA: "Calvin Klein is a genetic memory." He is adored by Hollywood stars. He is considered one of the most influential people in the world. And today he turns 68 years old ...
Name - Calvin Richard Klein
Date of Birth – November 19, 1942
Place of Birth – Bronx, New York, USA
Profession – fashion designer
Family – divorced; Marcy's daughter
eye color - grey-blue
Hair color – fair-haired
Calvin Richard Klein.
Who would have thought in the distant war year of 1942 that the second son of the Kleins, Hungarian Jewish emigrants, Calvin Richard, was destined to become great.
Although when the question "What do you want to do in life?" little Kelvin replied: "Sewing clothes", no one was surprised. From childhood, the boy was surrounded by female attention and spent days on end in a textile store, where his grandmother Molly worked, and his mother Flor worked as a dressmaker. Therefore, Kelvin was familiar with what patterns are and "what they are eaten with" from young nails.
Such a hobby did not evoke warm feelings and responses from his peers - the boy was a constant object of ridicule. Calvin's only friend during this period was Barry Schwartz.
After high school, Calvin was determined to get a design education. And so he enters the New York High School of Industrial Design. It should be noted that Klein's teachers did not even suspect that there was a genius among their students, considering Kelvin to be 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 order to somehow make ends meet, she works as a street artist.
Klein's first job "in profile" was the position of an assistant at the New York Clothing Center. But the routine and meager salary did not encourage him to continue his career there.
1964 brought a change in his personal life to Calvin's 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 Kelvin's wife will be his assistant Kelly Rector, 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 during a difficult period, and a devoted friend Barry Schwartz, who believed in his talent and strength and found money, the brand was created Calvin Klein.
Models of the new brand were distinguished by a simple cut and discreet colors, which later became the brand's signature brand.
For the first models of women's coats, 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 an inaccurately recorded address from a buyer for a large department store: he had the wrong floor, but when he saw Kelvin's models, he placed an order for 50 thousand dollars.
Needless to say, how much this accident inspired Klein. New collections came out one after another. The fashion designer worked around the clock. And the result was not long in coming: the collections diverged with a bang, and in 1973 Kelvin was awarded his first ever design award. Coty Award.
Creating a coat turned out to be not so profitable. And the real salvation of the fashion designer was jeans and ... a scandal.
1978 An advertising campaign for a jeans collection starring 13-year-old Brooke Shields literally blew up the public. It was even honored with a discussion in the Parliament. The fashion designer was accused of all mortal sins from the distribution of pornography to pedophilia. But the words that flew from the lips of a young nymphet: "You know what's between me and Calvin Klein jeans? Nothing!" did their job - sales skyrocketed. 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 willingness of the fashion designer 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 to 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 conciseness.
Now the concept of "unisex" is quite ordinary and it is difficult to surprise with this. But it arose precisely thanks to Calvin Klein, who released the fragrance cK one and became a pioneer in 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 Bullock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston, Helen Hunt, despite the fact that now Calvin Klein is no longer its owner.
The designer himself evaluates his success as follows: " 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 famous American fashion designer. K. Klein was born on November 19, 1942 in the Bronx, in the family of an entrepreneur.
Kelvin's creative abilities manifested themselves in his childhood. He entered the High School of Art, graduating at the age of eighteen, after which he studied for a couple more years at the New York Fashion Institute of Technology.
In 1964, Kelvin married J. Senta. 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. Periodically, he moonlighted as a street artist.
Over time, the young designer decided to create his own clothing production. Together with a childhood friend named Barry Schwartz, Calvin created Calvin Klein Ltd. Initially, this company produced men's outerwear, and then took up the design of women's clothing. The new company quickly succeeded. In 1980, model Brooke Shields advertised the first Calvin Klein jeans. Two years later, the company launched the production of men's underwear.
In 1989, Calvin Klein bought the perfume license. In 1992, the company underwent a reorganization, in which the popular musician David Geffen took part. A year later, the public was presented with a budget version of the Calvin Klein fashion brand.
In 1995, Calvin Klein's flagship store opened in the mall on Madison Avenue. In 1999, a store opened in Kent, and then a boutique opened in Manchester.
In the 2000s, Calvin Klein had to take part in a number of legal proceedings. He sued his wife K. Rector in turn, the Warnaco Group, even the Catholic Church. K. Klein entered the history of American fashion as a marketing genius, a recognized 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 jeans. After the expansion of the denim range and the scandalous campaign with fifteen-year-old Brooke Shields, the Calvin Klein trademark came to real success. Sales of the brand in the next 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. On advertising posters of the time, boys and girls were dressed in the same Calvin Klein denim. The idea of unisex youth clothing was accepted with a bang, young people literally swept fashion items from the unisex collection from store shelves.
K. Klein has always practiced an innovative approach to fashion. He not only came up with the unisex style, but also the first to decide to repaint jeans in black, and also make them tight. The success of tight denim models was overwhelming. Jeans experienced a new round of popularity - new models not only looked great, but also sat perfectly on the figure.
The end of the 1980s passed under the sign of unisex. Klein released fragrances in women's and men's versions and offered his clients models of women's underwear, stylized 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. Enormous capacity for work, rich imagination, inexhaustible creative energy - all this helped the designer to release collections one after another, and each of his new lines surpassed the previous one in success.
In the development and creation of fashionable clothes, K. Klein decided to bet on sexuality. He didn't guess. Distinctive features of clothing models from K. Klein are minimalism, simple cut and bright sexuality. For tailoring, the designer uses the best fabrics: wool, natural cotton, etc., which makes his clothes beautiful, safe and comfortable. All things from Calvin Klein belong to the luxury class.
Today, Calvin Klein is not just a name or a trademark. 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.
The brand began with Calvin Klein Limited, a small shop in the York Hotel in New York; The company's starting capital was only $10,000. Calvin presented his first collection - a selection of coats and raincoats for men and women - in the New York store "Bonwit Teller".
In 1969, Calvin first appeared on the cover of Vogue magazine. In 1971, the women's clothing collection was expanded with a selection of tracksuits, classic blazers and lingerie.
In 1973, Klein received his first Coty (Coty American Fashion Critics' Award) for a collection of women's clothing.
In 1977, the company's revenues amounted to $30 million; by that time, the Fashion House already had licenses for scarves, shoes, belts, furs and sunglasses. The share of the founders of the company - Calvin and Barry - accounted for 4 million dollars. Meanwhile, the range of the House's products continued to grow - the company received licenses for cosmetics, jeans and menswear.
In 1978, Klein sold over 200,000 new jeans in his first week of trading.
In the late 70s, "Calvin Klein" tried to break into the perfume and cosmetic markets; alas, failure awaited them here - and significant costs.
In the 80s, at the peak of an absolutely crazy wave of success in designer jeans - one model of these jeans Calvin once created by simply placing his logo on the back pocket - Klein released a new hit; the new "boxers" for men and women were an instant hit. According to rumors, for the first year, Calvin received $ 70 million on these “boxers”.
In the 90s, CK underwear was advertised on giant billboards; flaunted on these billboards Mark Wahlberg (Mark Wahlberg). In the future, underwear from Klein has not lost its popularity; from a certain moment, the name Kelvin became a household name in relation to linen.
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In the early 1980s, sales growth continued; later, however, the situation changed. The designer began to be haunted by problems of all kinds - financial troubles, licensing conflicts and a strong drop in sales.
At the end of 1987, Calvin Klein Industries almost sold Triangle Industries - and only the fall of the stock exchange managed to prevent this.
In 1993, Kelvin was recognized as "America's Best Designer"; it seemed that the dark time for "Calvin Klein" was over. Alas, the joy was premature - in 1999 the company was again put up for sale. For 7 months, Klein did not manage to find a decent buyer; the advertisement for the sale was withdrawn.
Still, Kelvin managed to sell his offspring, but only in December 2002; Phillips Van Heusen Corp bought his empire. According to indirect data, this purchase cost 400 million in cash, 30 million in shares and the renewal of licenses and rights to royalties for another 15 years. It is known that the initiator of the transaction was the CEO of "Phillips Van Heusen Corp" Bruce Klatsky. In the hands of the new owner, the Fashion House received a second wind and is functioning quite successfully to this day. Klein continued to focus on design, but for the most part moved away from management processes.
