Considered America’s first rock star designer, Calvin Klein remains a towering figure in the industry nearly four decades after founding his eponymous company. Having produced his first collection of sportswear in 1973, his work began attracting attention from the fashion industry thanks to his simple and well-tailored basics, like beige pantsuits and cardigans. A talented and consummate marketer, Klein managed to carve out a lucrative business selling both down-market (jeans) and up (couture). One of the first fashion titans who recognised the power of branding, stamping his

name and logo across hundreds of products, Klein’s commercial featuring a Lolita-esque, 15-year-old Brooke Shields wearing jeans (“You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing”) sparked a furore. In Europe, CK is predominantly known for its underwear, accessories and the Collection business, than for the medium-priced sportswear lines. Also famous for the label’s various lines of perfumes and colognes, CK launched Calvin (men) in 1981 and has been doing so regularly almost every year, the most famous ones being Escape (men and women), Euphoria (women), Euphoria Intense (men), ckIN2U and others.