Yahoo Lifestyle Calvin Klein Collection Makes a Confident Comeback
Inside a nondescript building in the heart of New York’s garment district, Calvin Klein waited patiently for a fashion show to start. It was a homecoming for him: 205 W 39th Street remains the brand's headquarters. Mr. Klein was as charming as ever at 83, mingling with the crowd, which included old and new faces of the brand, like Kate Moss, Christy Turlington, and FKA Twigs.
An open floor carpeted runway was emblazoned with the brand logo—a stage set for the debut of Veronica Leoni as creative director of Calvin Klein Collection. It’s been six years since the Collection label was in operation, then with designer Raf Simons in the driver’s seat. Leoni, whose CV includes roles at The Row, Jil Sander, and Phoebe Philo’s Celine, as well as her own label Quira, is the first woman to ever hold the position at Calvin Klein.
To revive a label is no easy task, especially one so deeply embedded in the foundations of American style, and especially with the man who started it all watching from the front row.
When the first model (the casting included Kendall Jenner, Binx Walton, and Selena Forrest) hit the runway in a monastic black sheath dress with long sleeves and a high neck, it was clear that Leoni was leading with a strong, seductive energy. Then came elongated and baggy coats in rich grays and whites, plus a couple of cool skirt suits, one designed with angular pinstripe fabric, slight shoulder pads, and a knee-length hem.
Leoni showed off her tailoring skills by way of drapey, front panel shirts, oversized trenches, and sensual, form-fitting dresses that played with texture and movement like a maxi frock covered in gold paillettes that clacked as the model walked by. She also mixed cashmere, satin, brushed cotton and dry gabardine. One standout corset dress was crafted so that it looked as if the surface had peeled off just so at the back—a nice contrast to the fluid pajama-style set and scarf jackets that felt filled with ease.
Leoni also introduced boxy little shoulder bags and pumps for the Tess McGills of today, as well as a trio of looks anchored by denim and punctuated with familiar-looking checked shirts. There was also a sharp shrunken knit worn with a collared shirt and straight-leg black trousers. These pieces brought Brooke Shields to mind and her indelible 1980 Calvin Klein Jeans ads. “You know what comes between me and my Calvin’s?” she purred. “Nothing.”
Backstage, Leoni spoke about diving into the archives but being cautious not to “get into any nostalgia.” Though there was a fun little minaudière bag shaped like the bottle of Klein’s iconic “CK One” perfume. “I didn’t want to get stuck in something that was focusing too much on the past,” she said. Her aim, she explained, was to erase whatever came between her and Klein’s last day on the job, taking over as if he’d just stopped working and handed her the keys to the kingdom.
Leoni looked relaxed, smiling wide as she greeted guests post-show, a small pair of gold tailor’s scissors hung around her neck on a piece of slashed-off fabric. She has room to grow and to focus parts of the collection, but she is aware of that and is staying the course. “I feel like King Kong today,” she said with a laugh. “I felt like it was the right time to change the conversation [around Calvin Klein Collection] a little bit and flip the point of view.”
She said an idea of sexiness rooted the collection. Though sexiness to her is more of an attitude rather than the literal version of the word. “My wife is the sexiest woman I know, Leoni said. “I think sexiness is such an intimate thing...regardless of the silhouette, the amount of skin or that kind of stuff, it's about the confidence.”
Confidence is core to Calvin Klein. It's a feeling that the man himself was able to distill for so many years and through so many beautiful, effortless clothes, sensual fragrances, and hot underwear ads. He invented the idea of minimal, hot, power dressing in America, but to see it now, through Leoni’s lens, feels like a promising start for a fresh new era of Calvin Klein Collection—one with a woman taking charge.
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