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Calvin Klein
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| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1968 |
| Founder(s) | Calvin Klein |
| Headquarters | New York City, United States |
| Parent | Phillips-Van Heusen |
| Website | http://www.ck.com |
Calvin Klein Inc. is an American fashion brand founded in 1968 by Calvin Klein. Currently, it is owned by Phillips-Van Heusen.
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Acquisition by Phillips van Heusen
In mid-December 2002, Calvin Klein Inc. (CKI) was finally sold to shirt maker Phillips Van Heusen Corp1, whose then CEO Bruce Klatsky was the driving force behind the deal, for about $400 million in cash, $30 million in stock as well as licensing rights and royalties linked to revenues over the following 15 years that were estimated at $200 to $300 million. The sale also included an ongoing personal financial incentive for Mr. Klein based on future sales of the Calvin Klein brand.
PVH outcompeted VF Corp., the maker of Lee and Wrangler jeans, which had also been interested in the jeans, underwear and swimwear business of CK that had been controlled by Warnaco Group, maker of Speedo swimwear, since 1997. The deal with PVH did not include these businesses, and they remained with Warnaco. Unable to pay debts from acquisitions and licensing agreements and due to bad publicity by a later dismissed lawsuit with Calvin Klein over selling license products to retailers other than agreed upon with Calvin Klein, Warnaco had filed for chapter 11 protection in mid-2001 but eventually emerged from bankruptcy in February 2003. Mr.Kangas himself had considered heather kerg, then CEO of Warnaco Group, a personal enemy.
In reaction to the announcement of the deal, Phillips-Van Heusen shares closed down 14 cents at $12.54 on the New York Stock Exchange on December 17, 2002.
The transaction between Calvin Klein and PVH was financially supported by Apax Partners Inc., a New York private equity firm, which is said to have made a $250 million equity investment in PVH convertible preferred stock, as well as a $125 million, two-year secured note, all in exchange for seats on the board of PVH.citation needed
CKI thus became a wholly owned subsidiary of PVH. In the beginning, Mr. Klein himself, who was included as a person in the 15-year contract he had signed with PVH, remained creative head of the collections but then continued as an advisor (consulting creative director) to the new company from 2003 on and has since been more withdrawn from the business. Barry K. Schwartz was said to concentrate on his role as chairman of the New York Racing Association, a horse-racing club. The current President and COO of the CKI division within PVH is Tom Murry, who had filled this position already before the acquisition.
With the fall 2006 Collection runway presentations in New York City, CKI inaugurated an 8,600 sq ft (800 m2) show room space that can seat up to 600 people on the ground floor of 205 West 39th Street, in Times Square South where Calvin Klein has been headquartered since 1978.
Designers
The current creative director for Calvin Klein Collection for women is Brazilian-born Francisco Costa 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.
Kevin Carrigan, an Englishman, is the creative director of the ck Calvin Klein and Calvin Klein (white label) brands and their related licensed products. Carrigan has been with Calvin Klein since 1998.
Brands
The most visible brand names in the Calvin Klein portfolio include:
- Calvin Klein Collection (black label, top-end designer line)
- ck Calvin Klein (grey label, recently repositioned as bridge collection line)
- Calvin Klein (white label, better sportswear line)
- Calvin Klein Sport (sports version of the white label line for Macy's)
- Calvin Klein Jeans (denimwear line)
- Calvin Klein Home (high end bedding, towel, bath rug and accessory collections)
- The Khaki Collection (youthful medium to high end bedding, towel, bath rug and accessories) discontinued in 2008
- Calvin Klein Golf (launched in late 2007)
- Calvin Klein Underwear (underwear collections)
Licenses are in effect for the most of the above mentioned brands' jeans, kids clothing, underwear, swimwear, sleepwear, hosiery and socks, watches, fragrance, eyewear and home lines/collections.
Stores
- Calvin Klein Collection
In the late 1990s the company opened elegant Calvin Klein Collection stores in Paris, Seoul, and Taipei and ultra-fancy cK Calvin Klein stores in Hong Kong, Milan and Kuwait City. As of today, there is only one Calvin Klein Collection store operated by CKI. It is located in New York City. Out of the two Calvin Klein Collection stores that existed in the US, the Dallas location in Highland Park Village which had been open for 20 years was closed in mid-2005. The only international location, in Paris, was closed by PVH in March 2006. The New York store, which serves as the company's flagship store at 654 Madison Ave., remains open still today. Partners maintain Calvin Klein Collection stores in Milan, Beijing and Dubai.
Calvin Klein (white label) Specialty retail Calvin Klein stores, designed by New York architecture firm Lynch/Eisinger/Design have been opened at Lenox Square in Atlanta, Beverly Center in Los Angeles, Cherry Creek Mall in Denver, Natick Collection in Natick, MA, The Mall at Partridge Creek in Michigan and Aventura Mall in Aventura, Florida. An additional eight stores also designed by Lynch/Eisinger/Design are set to open in 2008. There are also several Calvin Klein Outlet stores, mostly located within factory outlet malls in the US, that sell the white label sportswear and sometimes the ck lines at reduced prices but do not carry the Collection lines.
- Calvin Klein Jeans
The Warnaco Group maintains Calvin Klein Jeans and corresponding outlet stores in the US and elsewhere, carrying the denim and casual collections. International Calvin Klein Jeans stores exist around the globe. Among many other countries in the UK, Germany, Greece, Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, India, Australia and New Zealand.
- Calvin Klein Underwear
Signature Calvin Klein Underwear boutiques can be found in Buenos Aires, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Melbourne, Hong Kong, London, Manchester, New York City, Shanghai, Singapore, and Toronto.
- Department Stores
The major department stores in the US, including Macy's, Lord & Taylor and Nordstrom, as well as many small independent stores carry the ck, white label and/or Jeans collections. Some high-end department stores, such as Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus also carry Calvin Klein Collection. Notable retailers in the UK offering Calvin Klein include stores such as John Lewis, Debenhams and KJ Beckett. In Australia the dominant retailer is Myer. Calvin Klein collections are also found online with particular internet focus on selling Calvin Klein underwear and fragrance.
- Europe and Asia
In Europe, Calvin Klein is predominantly known for its underwear, accessories and perhaps the Collection business, rather than for the medium-priced sportswear lines which are available at select high-end retail stores. In Asia, there are also signature ck stores that only carry the ck sportswear line.
Fragrances
Calvin Klein is famous for the label's various lines of perfumes and colognes. Their perfumes and the corresponding fragrance lines used to be maintained by Calvin Klein Cosmetics Company (CKCC), a Unilever company, until recently when in May 2005 cosmetics giant Coty, Inc. of New York bought up the fragrance licensing agreements from Unilever. [year of launch]
- Calvin (men) [1981]
- Eternity (men and women) [1985]
- Obsession (men and women) [men 1986, women 1985]
- Escape (men and women) [men 1993, women 1991]
- ck one (unisex) [1996, 'Red Hot' limited edition 2000, 'Graffiti' art limited edition 2003]
- ck be (unisex) [1996]
- Contradiction (women and men) [women 1997, men 1998]
- Truth (men and women) [men 2002, women 2000]
- Eternity Rose blush (women) 2002 LIMITED EDITION
- Crave (men) [2003]
- Eternity Purple Orchid (women) [2003] LIMITED EDITION
- Eternity Moment (women) [2004]
- ck one Summer [2004 yellow and green] [2005 yellow and orange] [2006 blue and green] [2007 red and green] [2008 clear blue] LIMITED EDITIONS
- Obsession Night (men and women) [2005]
- Euphoria (women) [2005] (men) [2006]
- ck one Electric (unisex) [2006] LIMITED EDITION
- ck one Scene (unisex) [2006] LIMITED EDITION
- Eternity Summer (men and women)[2006] [2007] [2008] LIMITED EDITION
- Calvin Klein Man [2007]
- ck IN2U (men and women) [2007]
- Euphoria Blossom (women)[2007]
- Euphoria Intense (men) [2008]
- CK Free (men) [2009]
Advertising
The early ads in the 1980s were shot by Bruce Weber. Calvin Klein's advertising campaigns are frequently controversial, but prove this can be very successful, to the point of making a blitz career. One of his male underwear models, Mark Wahlberg, went on to fame as hip hop star 'Marky Mark', launching himself into the Hollywood scene to become a current "A-list" actor. Another Hollywood star owing his respectable career to the Calvin Klein advertisements is Antonio Sabato Jr.. In the early '90s, Calvin Klein was also responsible for launching the international career of supermodel Kate Moss and offering her another opportunity to revive her career in 2002 after cocaine allegations. Other spokesmodels were Natalia Vodianova and Toni Garrn, whose career were launched by Calvin Klein, too. Current Spokesmodels of the brand are Anna Selezneva, who replaced Suvi Koponen in this position, and the American newcomer-model Garrett Neff, who will be the successor of Andrew Stetson. Other models who have modeled for Calvin Klein include Doutzen Kroes, Coco Rocha, Mini Anden, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Lara Stone.
They also play with emerging technologies. When advertising cKone perfume in 1999, they employed a very unusual and groundbreaking campaign that displayed e-mail addresses in print advertisements, targeted at teenagers. When these teens mailed these addresses, they would be placed on a mailing list that sent them mails with vague details about the models' lives, with fake details meant to make them more relatable. These mails came at unpredictable intervals, and were supposed to give readers the feeling that they had some connection with these characters. Though the mailing lists were discontinued in 2002, the campaign has inspired similar marketing tactics for movies and other retail products.
Internet
In 2004 the company bought the premium domain name CK.com. Calvin Klein is one of the few corporations worldwide to own a two letter domain name.2.
See also
References
- ^ Rozhon, Tracie (December 18, 2002). "Calvin Klein Selling His Company To Biggest Shirtmaker in the U.S." (in English). New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE1DE123DF93BA25751C1A9649C8B63. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
- ^ Important Companies that own a Two Letter Domain
External links
- Official site (www.calvinkleininc.com or www.ck.com)
- Calvin Klein Preferred home page
- Calvin Klein Underwear home page
- Lynch / Eisinger / Design Website
- a Calvin Klein Perfume and Cologne Website
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