Calvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer of Ukrainian-Jewish descent and the founder of Calvin Klein Inc.
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on November 19, 1942, in the Bronx, New York, into a Jewish family. The future fashion designer’s father was an entrepreneur who had emigrated to the United States (U.S.) from the Chernivtsi region. His mother was born in the United States to parents who had come from Galicia and Bukovina.
At age 18, Klein graduated from the School of Art and Design in New York. After that, he studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology for two years.
Career
From 1962 to 1968, Klein worked at various fashion houses in New York while also moonlighting as a street artist.
In 1968, together with his childhood friend Barry Schwartz, he founded the Calvin Klein company in New York. Initially, the brand specialized in men’s outerwear, but later began creating collections for women as well.
Recognition came quickly—from 1973 to 1975, the designer’s collections won the “Coty Award” three years in a row.
In 1978, Klein was the first designer to launch “designer jeans” for mass market sale. The Calvin Klein logo on the back pocket became one of the first examples of what would later be called “logomania.”
The brand’s advertising campaigns often caused scandals. The “Last Supper by Klein” campaign, which referenced Leonardo da Vinci’s fresco, caused a stir. The poster featured half-naked models in jeans instead of the apostles. Following lawsuits filed by the church, the designer paid $1 million in compensation.
In 1992, Klein unveiled an advertising poster featuring model Kate Moss and rapper Marky Mark in semi-nude poses. The clothing line was marketed as unisex, so the designer is considered one of the founders of the “unisex” style.
In 1999, another scandal erupted—the brand launched a line of underwear for children and teenagers. At the time, many people called the ads for this collection too revealing.
In 2003, Klein sold Calvin Klein to Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation. The deal was worth $430 million.
Marital Status
In 1964, Klein married Jane Senter. The couple later had a daughter, Marcy, and divorced in 1974.
Four years after her divorce, Marcy was kidnapped, and the kidnappers demanded a ransom of 100,000 dollars. She was held for nine hours; after the ransom was paid, she was released, and the kidnappers were arrested. Marcy later became a producer on the show “Saturday Night Live.”
In 1986, the designer married for the second time—to his assistant Kelly Rector, a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York who worked at his company. The marriage ended in divorce in 2006.
In the early 2010s, Klein was in a relationship with Nicholas Gruber, who was 47 years his junior.
