Calvin Klein history

Klein's first Vogue cover was in September 1969, with his classically cut outerwear featured prominently in the New York fall preview editorial inside.

In 1970, Klein was presented with the COTY award and was honoured with the prize for the next three consecutive years.

The fledgling company booked $1 million worth of business in its first year, reaching sales volume of $5 million by 1971.

Klein mainly designed women's coats and two-piece suits until 1972, when he began concentrating on sporty sweaters, skirts, dresses, shirts, and pants that could be mixed and matched for a complete wardrobe.

In 1973, he received his first Coty American Fashion Critics' Award for his 74-piece womenswear collection – the youngest recipient at that time.

That fiscal year (ending June 30, 1975) the firm shipped $12 million worth of merchandise, including swimsuits and dresses.

The most groundbreaking piece of sportswear Klein showed on the runway first appeared in spring 1976: a slim-cut pair of jeans with his name embroidered on the back pocket.

He then hired Stanley Kohlenberg, announcing the hire in January 28, 1977’s edition of WWD. Kohlenberg, who hadn’t yet told his boss, was escorted out of the Revlon premises and started working for Klein on February 1.

In 1978 Klein began designing a menswear collection that was licensed to Maurice Biderman.

By 1979 Calvin Klein was second to Gloria Vanderbilt in designer-jeans sales, with one-fifth of the market.

On January 30, 1980, Taylor bought the cosmetics part of Klein.

By 1981, Fortune figured Klein's annual income at $8.5 million.

By 1982, Calvin Klein jeans was responsible for 95% of Puritans volume.

By 1983 Calvin Klein, whose eponymous fragrance had produced a lukewarm reception four years earlier, was ready to give perfume another try.

Calvin Klein Industries had 1984 revenue of $258.2 million and net income of $17.2 million, with Klein and Schwartz each collecting $12 million in salary, dividends, and other distributions.

Klein won a CFDA award in 1986 for both his men's and women's collections, the first time a designer had won both awards in the same year.

And indeed, in late 1987, it was said that the sale of the company to Triangle Industries, a container manufacturer, had only failed because of the crashing stock market.

To complement Obsession, an oriental fragrance, in 1988 Calvin Klein introduced a floral scent, dubbed Eternity, which was marketed in perfume, cologne, cologne-spray, and body-cream forms.

Also in 1989, Calvin Klein opened its first full-line free-standing store, in a Dallas suburb.

The company's revenue dropped 13 percent, to $197 million, in 1990 leading to a $4.3 million loss, the third time in five years the company had been in the red.

A sexually suggestive, 116-page, insert for Calvin Klein Jeans in Vanity Fair in October 1991 failed to stimulate sales, prompting American retailers to contend that Klein had fallen out of touch with their customers.

In order to ease some of the financial strain, record producer David Geffen purchased $60 million of the company's junk bond debt in 1992.

The cK line, largely inspired by these vintage collection pieces, was recognized by the CFDA with an award in 1993.

Warnaco purchased the underwear division in 1994.

A 1995 article from The Columbian reported that Klein was investigated by the Justice Department and their Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.

By 1996, accusations of Klein copying other designers were so strong that he faxed over his collection to press when the trends from Milan started emerging.

Calvin Klein's approximately 400 in-store shops earned $5.1 billion in revenue during 1997, approximately 28 percent of which was earned in Europe.

In March 1998 Calvin Klein opened a new store in Rome's shopping district near the Spanish Steps.

The product line is planned for launch in Europe in the spring of 1999, supported by advertising and public relations campaigns.

A New York Times article from 2002 reported on the sale, noting that Klein wouldn’t have creative control anymore.

In 2003 Klein sold his company to Phillips–Van Heusen (later called PVH) in a deal valued at some $430 million with up to $300 million in future royalties.

In a 2010 report, PVH, who manages the ready-to-wear activities, had estimated sales of €4.6 billion of Calvin Klein products.

In February 2013, Warnaco Group was acquired by PVH which united Calvin Klein formal, underwear, jeans and sportswear lines.

CK ran a successful campaign in 2016, to represent all of it’s clothing simultaneously, as it was one where their audience could get involved with by sharing what they do in their Calvin’s.

Global retail sales of Calvin Klein brand products exceeded $9 billion in 2019 and were distributed in over 110 countries.

In 2020, PVH announced that as part of their animal welfare policy, the company does not use exotic skins and would be banning their use in Calvin Klein collections when "our annual update of that policy is released."