Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein was born in the Bronx of New York in 1942 to Jewish Hungarian immigrant parents. Interested in clothing and fashion from an early age, the young Klein taught himself to sketch and sew, and attended the New York School of Art and Design. At age 20, he graduated from the prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology and went on to spend 5 years working as an apprentice in a coat and suit house on Seventh Avenue, New York. During this time, he worked long nights and weekends honing his own designs. In 1968, he and his childhood friend Barry Schwartz created the Calvin Klein coat business. Legend has it that his first order was accidental, when a buyer from Bonwit Teller got off on the wrong floor of a hotel, wandered into Klein’s workroom, and placed an order for $50,000.The following year Klein appeared on the cover of Vogue, and by 1971 had added women’s sportswear, classic blazers and lingerie to his portfolio. Klein revolutionised the fashion industry with his classic, sharp designs and minimalist style, but it was the introduction of his designer jeans at affordable prices that made him a household name. His controversial advert showed a teenage Brooke Shields clad in tight jeans declaring “Nothing comes between me and my Calvins”. In 1982, Klein changed the perception of men’s underwear from a practicality to a true fashion statement with the introduction of his Calvin Klein Underwear. This hugely successful line of women’s boxer shorts and men’s briefs would later gross $70 million in one year.
Klein then moved into fragrances, with the popular Obsession, Eternity, Escape, Contradiction and the first ever unisex scent, CK One, since the 1970’s. His use, once again of suggestive advertising made his fragrances a phenomenal success and an everlasting brand. His empire encompasses lifestyle fashion, and includes the Calvin Klein Collection for women, men, the home, CK jeans for men, women and children as well as a beauty and cosmetics line.
Klein has won many awards and received numerous accolades for his contribution to fashion. He became the youngest designer ever to win the Coty Award in 1973, 1974 and 1975, and was awarded the Council of Fashion Designers of America Award for men and women’s wear in 1982, 1983 and 1986. This made history, as the first time a designer had won both in the same year. He won both again in 1993, and in the same year received the America’s Best designer award. Known as “Calvin the Conqueror” and as one of Time’s 25 Most Influential People in America, Klein has become a 20th Century icon.
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