Calvin Klein Inc.
Hungary → USA
Agriculture, Food & Consumer Goods
Summary
Calvin Klein was born in 1942 in the Bronx to Flore Stern, a Hungarian-Jewish immigrant from Budapest, and Leo Klein, an Austrian-Jewish immigrant. He graduated from the High School of Art and Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology and, in 1968, opened a coat company in New York with a $10,000 loan. Within a decade he had pioneered the designer-jeans category and built one of the most distinctive American fashion houses. The company was sold to PVH Corp. in 2002 and continues to operate as a global brand under PVH ownership.
European Contribution
Central European Jewish design sensibility, transmitted through immigrant parents to a son trained in New York's design schools.
American Impact
Pioneered the designer-jeans market; built one of the most globally recognised American fashion brands.
Timeline Highlights
- Early 20th c. Klein parents emigrate from Hungary and Austria
- 1942 Calvin Klein born in the Bronx
- 1968 Calvin Klein Inc. founded
- 1980 Designer-jeans Brooke Shields campaign launches
- 2002 Sold to PVH Corp.