Calvin Klein parts ways with Raf Simons and cancels NYFW show

Calvin Klein has announced the departure of creative chief Raf Simons after just two years in the role and said it will not be showing at New York Fashion Week in February.

Simons' departure had been expected, as reported by The Industry earlier this month.  Parent company PVH announced its results and expressed its disappointment in the commercial performance of the flagship brand following the arrival of the Belgian designer, who replaced Francisco Costa and Italo Zucchelli (womenswear and menswear director respectively).

“[...]while many of the product categories performed well, we are disappointed by the lack of return on our investments in our Calvin Klein 205W39NYC halo business and believe that some of the Calvin Klein Jeans relaunched product was too elevated and did not sell through as well as we planned,” the company said at the time.

In a brief statement issued last night PVH commented: "Raf Simons is leaving his position as Chief Creative Officer. Both parties have amicably decided to part ways after Calvin Klein, Inc. decided on a new brand direction which differs from Simons’s creative vision."

Simons, who had previously been creative director at Dior (a position he left citing the heavy workload as one of the reasons) had been given full creative control at the US house. He launched the high-end 205W39NYC catwalk line, which the brand hoped would lend a fashion credibility across the label and, crucially, that it would sell (its previous catwalk shows were seen more as a marketing exercise). He also launched the CKBA 1-14 made to measure line, overhauled its core denim line, and toned down the brand's sexy image.

Raf Simons' first catwalk show for Calvin Klein

His first catwalk show, unveiled in February 2017, was met with almost unanimous praise by fashion critics (though our own trend expert Sandra Halliday was one of the lone critical voices saying she didn't "think it deserves the almost-unanimous praise it has received"). But given PVH's comments earlier this month, his new vision had not resonated with the Calvin Klein customer.

PVH had spent around $60m and $70m over the last three years in Calvin Klein, much of which went into the catwalk collection, but said it would be pulling back on its investments. It is understood that it had been pulling back on some of Simons' demands already, such as expensive catwalk shows (Simons had been used to presenting no-expense-spare spectaculars for Dior), and his more high-brow projects which were not deemed relevant for the brand.

Contributing editor for The Industry and creative director of TheChicGeek.co.uk summarised the situation earlier this month:  "Clearly the parent company is waking up to this problem and seeing a disconnect between where all the money is being spent and where the sales are. The majority of Calvin Klein consumers probably don’t even know who Raf Simons is, or care.

"The sales are in sexy basics – underwear, jeans and perfume. And that’s something Raf Simons doesn’t understand. He doesn’t do sexy. Even the model choices for the Calvin Klein runways were identical to his own eponymous brand; making the two look very similar. Calvin Klein is a brand built on sex and selling that by the truck load. As one of fashion’s licensing pioneers of the 80s and 90s, the brand rested on its laurels during the last two decades and didn’t really give a clear indication of where it was going and what it stood for."

Calvin Klein's absence from New York Fashion Week leaves a hole to fill as does Simons' departure from the brand. Who will take over and what Simons will do next will be the source of much speculation, though Simons will still be staging a catwalk show next season, for his own label brand at Paris Mens' Fashion Week in January.