"What is Calvin Klein? Everyone seems to have an idea in their head, but it's ferociously hard to nail down on paper. For Raf Simons, Klein was a framework to talk about ideas of American identity, a cultural framework to explore Andy Warhol and horror movies and prairie barns filled with popcorn, as well as logo-ed underwear and snug denims."
"The creative directors before him cleaved Klein into two distinct halves: for Francisco Costa's womenswear, cerebral minimalism; for Italo Zucchelli's menswear, a throbbing masculine sexuality. Clean, versus dirty. Even Calvin Klein himself didn't really know what Calvin Klein was, or maybe even who - switching between Studio 54 party boy and devoted husband and father, his early fashion sense was gleaned, largely, from Halston and Yves Saint Laurent."
"Veronica Leoni is finding her path through the minefield of Klein archetypes, the cold and the hot, the stripped back and the stripped off. Generally speaking, Leoni is interested in making clothes, rather than images, meaning she hasn't really dealt with the infamous sexy side of the brand, the one that got the brand boycotted and even banned and made the name 'Calvin' synonymous with a bulging groin, generally several metres in girth and splayed across various New York billboards."
Calvin Klein resists simple definition, encompassing cultural signifiers from logo underwear and snug denim to prairie imagery and cinematic references. Raf Simons used the brand as a framework to interrogate American identity, Andy Warhol, and horror aesthetics. Prior creative directors divided the brand: Francisco Costa emphasized womenswear minimalism while Italo Zucchelli foregrounded masculine sexuality. Calvin Klein himself presented contradictory personas, mixing Studio 54 glamour with domestic devotion. Veronica Leoni prioritizes garment-making over image-making and seeks a path between Klein's cold minimalism and hot sexuality. Leoni retains essential brand elements such as underwear and denim, including a jean inspired by a 1976 pair.
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