apparel perfume fashion founded 1968 founder calvin klein headquarters new york city united states number of employees 1001 5000 2015 parent pvh 2002 present website calvinklein.com calvin klein inc. is an american fashion house founded by the fashion designer calvin klein . 1 the company is headquartered in midtown manhattan new york city 2 and is currently owned by pvh . 3 4 contents 1 history 1.1 the early years 1.2 1970s 1.3 1980s 1985 underwear 1.4 2002 present acquisition by phillips van heusen 2 products and marketing 2.1 product & brand history 2.1.1 fragrances 2.1.2 advertising 2.1.3 branding 2.1.4 licensees 2.1.5 internet 3 designers 4 corporate 4.1 stores 5 controversies 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit a calvin klein store in fairview mall the early years edit in 1968 klein founded calvin klein limited a coat shop in the york hotel in new york city with 10 000 . 5 6 the first calvin klein collection was a line of youthful understated coats and dresses featured at the new york city store bonwit teller . 5 in september 1969 klein appeared on the cover of vogue magazine . 7 1970s edit by 1971 klein had added sportswear classic blazers and lingerie to his women s collection . in 1973 he received his first coty american fashion critics award for his 74 piece womenswear collection the youngest recipient at that time . 7 klein won the award again in 1974 and 1975 . 7 by 1977 annual revenues had increased to 30 million equivalent to 117 million in 2016 and klein had licenses for scarves shoes belts furs sunglasses and sheets . klein and schwartz were making 4 million each . after the company signed licenses for cosmetics jeans and menswear klein s annual retail volume was estimated by whom at 100 million equivalent to 390 million in 2016 . in 1978 klein claimed sales of 200 000 pairs of his famous jeans the first week they were on the market . by 1981 fortune figured klein s annual income at 8.5 million a year . in the mid 1970s he had created a designer jeans craze by putting his name on the back pocket . klein s design assistant at the time jeffrey banks has claimed credit for the logo garments stating that he had the logo from a press folder silkscreened onto the sleeve of a brown t shirt as a present for klein . 8 the gift was assumed by schwartz to be part of the upcoming line and similar logo shirts formed the uniform for the front of house staff at klein s next catwalk show leading to buyer demand . 8 in the late 1970s the company also made attempts to set up its own fragrance and cosmetics lines but soon withdrew from the market with big financial losses . in the 1980s as the designer jeans frenzy reached its all time high calvin klein introduced a highly successful line of boxer shorts for women and a men s underwear collection which would later gross 70 million in a single year . calvin klein s underwear business promoted later in the 1990s with giant billboards showing images of pop singer mark marky mark wahlberg became so successful that his underpants became generally known as calvins . 1980s 1985 underwear edit in the early 1980s klein changed the american market of men s underwear one where most men s underwear was white purchased in packs of three by a wife mother or girlfriend when they needed to be to one where the american male to care about the brand of something few ever see . 9 the stunning growth continued through the early eighties . the licensing program which brought in 24 000 when it was initiated in 1974 equivalent to 115 158 in 2015 had royalty income of 7.3 million ten years later equivalent to 16.63 million in 2016 . that year worldwide retail sales were estimated at more than 600 million equivalent to 1366.62 million in 2016 . klein s clothes were sold through 12 000 stores in the united states and were available in six other countries through licensing deals namely canada the united kingdom ireland australia new zealand and japan . his annual income passed 12 million equivalent to 27.33 million in 2016 . financial problems increased pressure from all sides disagreements with the licensee of the menswear line and its disappointing sales as well as an enormous employee turnover both within calvin klein and its licensing partners led to the first rumors that calvin klein industries as the company had been known by then was up for sale . and indeed in late 1987 it was said that the sale of the company to triangle industries a container manufacturer had only failed because of the crashing stock market . although the company almost faced bankruptcy in 1992 calvin klein managed to regain and increase the profitability of his empire throughout the later 1990s mainly through the success of its highly popular underwear and fragrance lines as well as the ck sportswear line . during his 1990 1995 stint as calvin klein s head of menswear design john varvatos pioneered a type of men s underwear called boxer briefs a hybrid of boxer shorts and briefs . 10 made famous by a series of 1992 print ads featuring mark marky mark wahlberg 10 11 they have been called one of the greatest apparel revolutions of the century . 10 klein was named america s best designer for his minimalist all american designs in 1993 and it came as a surprise in 1999 when it was announced that cki was again up for sale . planning to expand its business the company had been approached by two luxury goods companies lvmh and pinault printemps redoute to join calvin klein but nothing resulted . other potentials like tommy hilfiger corp. and italy s holding di partecipazioni proved to be similar disappointments because of cki s steep price tag of supposedly 1 billion . after seven months and no potential buyer klein announced that his empire was not on the market anymore . the company would never manage to go public which had supposedly been klein s plan once . 2002 present acquisition by phillips van heusen edit in mid december 2002 calvin klein inc. cki was sold to phillips van heusen corp pvh 12 whose then ceo bruce klatsky was the driving force behind the deal for about 400 million in cash 30 million in stock as well as licensing rights and royalties linked to revenues over the following 15 years that were estimated at 200 to 300 million . 13 the sale also included an ongoing personal financial incentive for klein based on future sales of the calvin klein brand . pvh outbid vf corp. the maker of lee and wrangler jeans which had also been interested in the jeans underwear and swimwear business of ck that had been controlled by warnaco group maker of speedo swimwear in the us since 1997 . the deal with pvh did not include these businesses and they remained with warnaco . unable to pay debts from acquisitions and licensing agreements and due to bad publicity by a later dismissed lawsuit with calvin klein over selling license products to retailers other than agreed upon with calvin klein warnaco had filed for chapter 11 protection in mid 2001 but eventually emerged from bankruptcy in february 2003 . 14 the transaction between calvin klein and pvh was financially supported by apax partners inc. a new york private equity firm which is said to have made a 250 million equity investment in pvh convertible preferred stock as well as a 125 million two year secured note all in exchange for seats on the board of pvh . 15 cki thus became a wholly owned subsidiary of pvh . in the beginning klein himself who was included as a person in the 15 year contract he had signed with pvh remained creative head of the collections but then continued as an advisor consulting creative director to the new company from 2003 on and has since been more withdrawn from the business . barry k. schwartz was said to concentrate on his role as chairman of the new york racing association a horse racing club . the current president and coo of the cki division within pvh is tom murry who had filled this position already before the acquisition . with the fall 2006 collection runway presentations in new york city cki inaugurated an 8 600 sq ft 800 m2 show room space that can seat up to 600 people on the ground floor of 205 west 39th street in times square south where calvin klein has been headquartered since 1978 . in a 2010 report pvh who manages the ready to wear activities had estimated sales of 4.6 billion of calvin klein products . 3 in feb 2013 warnaco group was acquired by pvh which united calvin klein formal underwear jeans and sportswear lines . 16 17 products and marketing edit product & brand history edit the most visible brand names in the calvin klein portfolio include calvin klein collection black label upscale 3 top end designer line ck calvin klein grey label recently repositioned as bridge collection line ; licensed to warnaco group inc. through at least 2044 . 3 18 pvh acquired warnaco group in feb 2013 16 calvin klein white label basic fashion 3 better sportswear line calvin klein sport sports version of the white label line for macy s calvin klein jeans denimwear line ; licensed to warnaco group through at least 2044 . 18 pvh acquired warnaco group in feb 2013 16 calvin klein home high end bedding towel bath rug and accessory collections the khaki collection youthful medium to high end bedding towel bath rug and accessories discontinued in 2008 calvin klein golf launched in late 2007 calvin klein underwear underwear collections ; licensed to warnaco group through at least 2044 . 18 pvh acquired warnaco group in feb 2013 16 ck one lifestyle brand fragrance underwear jeans launched 2011 19 20 calvin klein watches jewelry watches launched in 1997 jewelry in 2004 for details see current brands and licenses . fragrances edit calvin klein has various lines of perfumes and colognes including obsession and eternity . until may 2005 their perfumes and the corresponding fragrance lines were maintained by calvin klein cosmetics company ckcc a unilever company . cosmetics giant coty inc. of new york bought the fragrance licensing agreements from unilever . advertising edit calvin klein models the early ads were shot by bruce weber and richard avedon . one of his male underwear models mark wahlberg went on to fame as hip hop star marky mark launching himself into the hollywood scene to become a current actor . another hollywood star first appearing in calvin klein advertisements is antonio sabato jr. . calvin klein employed kate moss at the start of her career in the early 1990s and in 2002 after allegations of cocaine use . other models who have appeared in advertisements early in their careers are natalia vodianova scott king and toni garrn . currently calvin klein uses tyson ballou and lara stone and in the past has also used christy turlington jerry hall patti hansen tom hintnaus david agbodji travis fimmel doutzen kroes mini anden garrett neff sean o pry edita vilkeviciute jamie dornan liu wen edward furlong and vladimir ivanov . citation needed fit models include dale noelle . 21 actors such as eva mendes mehcad brooks scarlett johansson kellan lutz andie macdowell alexander skarsgard zoe saldana rita ora rooney mara and diane kruger have also been chosen to model for the brand . citation needed swedish footballer freddie ljungberg starred in a series of adverts for the company . 22 recently singer justin bieber appeared in advertising for calvin klein s underwear range