The Raf Simons Calvin Klein Era 

Yup! When I was reading financial reports to make this video I found out that PVH said it had invested as much as $70 million into the Calvin Klein rebrand under Simons, with much of that money going to the 205 collection. The brand reported earnings of $121 million that quarter, down from $142 million the previous year. So from the start it was already a financial liability and it just got worse and worse with every season. Eventually, damage control was necessary. The way he ran CK was just expensive in general like the huge licensing fees for all the movies and Andy Warhol prints.

@@FashionRoadman His contract was for 6 million but he was not able to justify this salary or a reason to keep him.

@@indoora this is very true. I think they had almost decided from the start that the mass market direction would be better financially. It takes so long to change a brands position and sometimes a lot of money which of course they did not want to blow on a project which is understandable.

Facts

Yes, definately feel it was being given another shot and a very public one as all eyes were on it, and in turn its end. Not sure about you but it felt rather planned, too many clues there including the quote from Calvin Klein himself (when he saw the flagship store after Stirlings make over/under) which said it all. Thinking ... if you want to close a brand, or part of a brand what better way that to basically, A: let the world know you have the 'greatest' designer lon board B: give them a blank cheque and carte blanche C: destroy everything, so it can be rebuilt, masonic chaos and order D: pull the plug at the right time and making some lame excuses about 'sales' when all this was being witnessed, advised and orchestated by the highest levels from the off. Great way to kill a brand, whist also being an amazing opportunity for experimentation and total creativity from the designer. His aesthetic at CK is still hugely evident in his work today, in my opinion.

I'm very aware of Calvin Klein's luxury line but it was such an insignificant part of the brand at the time when Raf Simons took over - just them having a line dedicated to luxury doesn't mean much when it's barely selling. It not selling shouldn't be much of an issue as most luxury brands make most of their money from accessories and cosmetics but the issue is Calvin Klein Collection had such little visibility. It's the visibility that helps push this luxury aspirational story that helps brands sell the cheaper items. This is why they hired Raf Simons in the first place and paid him a fortune. Why I think the prices were a big factor is because the luxury line they had before Raf, (Calvin Klein Collection) was barely selling hence... Calvin Klein wanted a larger stake in luxury + needed to bring more visibility to their runway collections and believed it needed a big-name designer to get it. This is why they parted ways with Francisco Costa, it was also because they wanted to change the brand direction in a way that from the top down, everything would be seen as more luxury and the marketing would be unified across all lines. How do they expect anything to change if the prices of the luxury line remained higher than competitors that are considered more luxury than Calvin Klein? You'd have to go all the way back to the 90s to see the great Calvin Klein runway collections (looks modelled by Kate Moss and Cindy Crawford come to mind), the brand did not keep the same momentum with their luxury line on the runway into the 2000s with people like Francesco Costa (even though he has a few good moments) compared to current big names in fashion that maintained their luxury brand positioning. Calvin Klein bossed the runway from the 70s to the 90s but since then it just hasn't been the same. I would make the same points I made in the video about Michael Kors (that you mentioned). Less people will buy a $1500 Michael Kors Jacket from the runway when people associate the brand with outlet bags when alternatives at the same price are from brands like Balenciaga, Prada, Jil Sander, Gucci etc. It takes a long time to change a brand's positioning and once you go super mass market it's hard to go back to being seen as the luxury brand it was before the mass marketing push. The thing is Calvin Klein will be just fine, they make a killing selling underwear and denim. The whole point of this video is to focus on Raf Simon's CK project. It's not an overview of Calvin Klein itself.

How the Raf Simons situation ended is basically an admission and acceptance by PVH that their only use for Calvin Klein is as a mass market brand which shows you how far the brand's "luxury" proposition has fallen. I wonder how many more jeans, perfume bottles and underwear they can sell until people get completely tired of it. Did the brand make huge losses when Raf was there - yes. They had two choices - go back to relying on the mass market branding of Calvin Klein or keep blowing through money with Raf in hopes that it would change.

@@FashionRoadman I think the people at the top of a fashion industry know so well that commercial products help maintain luxury projects and not the other way. Calvin Klein or PVH were certainly not so silly that they did not understand the luxury line would never be profitable. If what they wanted was Raf's big name, they got it, and he even gave the brand short-lived yet very significant creative materials that an ordinary designer or design team could never do. I think Raf was just too ahead of his time, so business people did not appreciate the artistic aspect of fashion enough. But this is changing now, companies like Michael Kors are still trying hard to prove a brand can have both luxury and mass market identities. Zara is the first fast fashion brand to be ditching its root and reposition itself higher. NFTs and metaverse put an emphasis on the artistic value of a design rather than its intrinsic value. CK will regret their decision to get rid of high fashion (on the wrong basis of financial performance) very soon.

Just circle back here to say the day they regret moving on from luxury has happened. Calvin Klein Collection is back

Great point. They do look very much like Marching band trousers. I have also seen similar stripes and designs on travelling suits of collegiate sports teams in the US which I know was a big theme throughout his time at CK.

I’m hoping he leaves Prada soon as well. Prada is a overlogoed, TikTok brand mess under him (well, Miuccia and Prada management is also to blame so let’s be fair).

Spill the tea! Did the company make a counteroffer to win him back from Prada?

It gives Walmart

@@brvndxxxn 100% Cotton

Her full name is actually Mary Elizabeth Spacek. Sissy was more like a nickname given to her by her older brothers which kind of stuck.

Why?

It didn’t work because it was bringing something very out of the box to a very standard and company whose audience was not attracted to this type of fashion. Raf’s take on Americana was genius and he was just about the only breath of fresh air that CK has gotten.

@@puppppppppppuuuuu6205 That’s what I said.

You didn’t understand them. Do you even by CK or the filtered down looks from the high street? If it’s the latter then I get why you can’t even think to appreciate an artist’s voice