Calvin Klein Collection

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Calvin Klein Collection is the brand name for the costly high-end haute couture designer menswear and womenswear lines from fashion house Calvin Klein.

Designer apparel, dresses, coats, dress shirts, eyewear, footwear and leather goods are sold under this 'black label' line, which represents the top level in the brand pyramid of the various Calvin Klein brands.

1 Overview
2 Designers at Calvin Klein Collection
3 Calvin Klein Collection stores
4 Trivia
5 External links
6 Sources

[edit] Overview

Calvin Klein Collection is one of several Calvin Klein brands owned by Calvin Klein Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Phillips Van Heusen (PVH). PVH describes the Collection as "the most prestigious and luxurious brand, setting the tone of elegance and modern sophistication for all of the other Calvin Klein brands" [1].

Before PVH decided in 2003 to license the Collection business, the design of Calvin Klein Collection had been managed out of the label's West 39th Street headquarters in New York City, even though the pieces were European-produced. The worldwide license for the Collection was then held from 2003 by Vestimenta SpA, an Italian high-fashion manufacturer, whose bankruptcy lead Fingen SpA of Italy, "the parent of the licensees for Calvin Klein Jeanswear in Europe and Asia and ck Calvin Klein bridge apparel in Europe" [2], to take over the license starting with the Spring 2006 line in the form of a subsidiary named CMI (Confezioni Moda Italia). In late 2005, the New York-based Warnaco Group, an apparel manufacturer that already cooperates with Calvin Klein in their sportswear and Jeans business on the US market, arranged to acquire the worldwide license from "Florence-based Fingen SpA for $286 million" [3] for the 2008 to 2013 period.

Calvin Klein Collection women's dresses retail at about US$ 700-1,400 but can cost up to 3,000 or more. A men's suit costs around US$ 1,300. These prices are significantly higher than those for comparable items in the company's sportswear lines.

The Calvin Klein Collection label is headquartered in Milan, Italy^{[citation needed]} and the clothes are labeled "made in Italy". The womens line, for now, is a collaboration between New York-based designer Francisco Costa and the Italian licensee.

[edit] Designers at Calvin Klein Collection

Before the house of Calvin Klein was sold to PVH in late 2002, Mr. Klein himself oversaw the design of the women's and men's collection. After the sale he functioned as a creative consultant for some time and was later released from all duties within the company.

The current creative director for Calvin Klein Collection for women is Brazilian-born Francisco Costa, a former Gucci designer, who had already worked with Mr. Klein directly before the founder’s departure from the company. Italo Zucchelli, a former Jil Sander and Romeo Gigli designer, had collaborated with Calvin Klein for six seasons before he became head designer of the Calvin Klein Collection menswear line in spring 2004.

Although Calvin Klein Collection is known for extremely high quality and expensive clothing, the Collection is actually "Ready-to-wear," not Haute Couture.

Calvin Klein Collection is presented bi-annually during the New York Fashion Week (womenswear) and Milan Fashion Week (menswear).

[edit] Calvin Klein Collection stores

Currently PVH operates only one store, in the U.S. under the Calvin Klein Collection brand:

654 Madison Ave., New York (flagship store)

The Paris store at 53, Avenue Montaigne closed in March 2006 because PVH decided it was unprofitable. It was the label's only international signature outlet owned by PVH. The space is now occupied by German fashion company Escada. A third store in Dallas' Highland Park was closed after 20 years in mid-2005 for the same above-mentioned reason. There are other international locations, such as Dubai, where Calvin Klein Collection stores can be found that are maintained by partners.

[edit] Trivia

The label sewn into the clothes used to be off-white with black characters until the late 1990's. These days, it is black with a tonal logotype as shown above. The signature font has not changed.