Calvin Klein, the fashion legend, celebrates his eightieth birthday today

Creator of a brand that promoted American casual. From the 1980s to the 2000s, a symbol of sober and minimal glamour, which made its way through disruptive advertising campaigns. Calvin Klein celebrates its eightieth birthday today.

The designer launched an androgynous beauty, unsurprisingly his top model was Kate Moss, he created the first unisex fragrance, ONE. Calvin Klein built a veritable empire that ranged from clothing to accessories, from beauty to furniture. Today the brand is designed by Raf Simons, one of the most popular designers in contemporary fashion.

Calvin Klein, the fashion legend of the 90s

Son of Jews of Hungarian origin, Calvin Richard Klein was born in New York on November 19, 1942 and grew up in the Bronx. After finishing his fashion studies in 1962, the designer had already made a name for himself and had gained enough experience within fashion houses to be able to start his own business. For this reason, and also thanks to the financial help of his childhood friend Barry K. Schwartz (who would later become CEO of the brand), he founded Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968, a brand that takes its name from his founder. The creations are distinguished by a simple and minimalist style, with models with unisex cuts. In a short time, Calvin Klein has become the world leader in haute couture catwalks.

The brand reached the peak of its success and the designer decided to launch collections that also included casual and sportswear lines of underwear. To achieve this goal, Calvin Klein invests heavily in a series of high-impact advertising campaigns. His creations are thus, relaxed and geometrically defined, basic by preferring neutral colors, above all aseptic clinical white. It’s the new American luxury, practical, fresh and discreet, perfectly interpreted by the Manhattan-based brand.

Private life

Calvin Klein marries Jayne Center, with whom he will have a daughter, Marci, who in 1978 will be kidnapped and held hostage for nine hours by a group of extortionists, fortunately arrested later, who demand a ransom of 100,000 dollars. In 1987 he remarried, this time with an employee of the company, Kelly Rector, but will divorce preferring the company of the toy boy (former porn actor) Nick Gruber, with whom he will live a relationship until 2013.