PVH regains Calvin Klein’s creative direction as Raf Simons leaves

Raf Simons has finally left Calvin Klein. PVH, the brand’s parent company, has consequently regained the firm’s creative control after showing clear discrepancies in regards to the Belgic designer’s last proposals, which were described as extravagant, expensive, and distant from the ensign’s DNA.

At the beginning of December, PVH’s president and CEO Emanuel Chirico showed publicly his clear disagreement with Simons’ runway collection for Calvin Klein, named 205W39NY, and with the one he carried out for Calvin Klein Jeans, which the CEO regarded as too expensive for its audience.

Back then, Chirico explained that the company is working on the development of a more commercial collection, specially for its denim line, which they expect to release in Autumn 2019.

PVH has explained that they will work on a new creative vision for Calvin Klein and that the brand will not participate in New York’s next runway

Now, through a press statement, PVH has explained that both parties have decided to break the agreement off and that they will work towards a new creative direction that differs from Simons’ outtake. On the other hand, the group has also pointed out that it will not participate in the next New York Fashion Week.

Calvin Klein appointed Raf Simons in August 2016 as chief creative officer, replacing on one hand Francisco Costa, who was in charge of the women’s line, and on the other, Italo Zucchelli, who had the creative lead for menswear collections.

During the first nine months of fiscal 2018, ended on October 30^th, Calvin Klein raised its sales up by 11%, reaching 2.77 billion dollars (2.44 billion euros). Moreover, the PVH group in its whole managed to reach a turnover of 7.17 billion dollars (6.3 billion euros), up by 11.7%.