Despite being a fave of celebs like Kendall Jenner, Lupita Nyong’o, Millie Bobby Brown and more, Calvin Klein has confirmed that it is shuttering its collection and runway businesses for the time being.
The iconic American fashion house has been plagued with rumors of a shakeup since the announcement of creative director Raf Simons’ departure in December 2018, and now it looks like the brand, which skipped its usual showing at New York Fashion Week in February, will move away from the luxury market in favor of its millennial-friendly underwear and denim lines.
It remains to be seen what the pivot will mean for the bevy of celebs who regularly wear Calvin Klein designs on the red carpet, but there is no denying the brand’s enduring legacy. Nyong’o, for instance, rocked in a strapless beaded gown by the brand at the 2019 Golden Globes, and she wore a custom pearl-encrusted design to the 2015 Oscars that was infamously stolen from her hotel room after the event.
Jenner, meanwhile, stunned in a mermaid-inspired nearly naked gown at the 2015 Met Gala, and Brown sparkled in a precious pink minidress by the Calvin Klein 205W39NYC at the 2018 SAG Awards. The then-14-year-old memorably paired the playful frock with Converse kicks. Back in 2011, a fresh-faced Jennifer Lawrence made her Academy Awards debut in a simply sexy scarlet Calvin Klein Collection by Francisco Costa gown, and there is so much more fashion history where that came from.
On the runway, OG supermodels like Kate Moss, Brooke Shields and Linda Evangelista strutted their stuff during the brand’s heyday in the 1990s, and models-of-the-moment like Kaia Gerber carried on the tradition of taking to the catwalk in the fashion house’s Americana-inspired designs as recently as last fall.
But for those who have been entranced with the star-studded Calvin Klein Underwear and Jeans campaigns that — in the last year alone — have featured the likes of the Kardashian-Jenner clan (shoutout to Khloe and Kylie for posing in their skivvies while pregnant), a shirtless Shawn Mendes and Noah Centineo, don’t fret. According to WWD, the brand is still on the hunt for a fashion director to replace Simons who will oversee the high-street portions of the business.
