Collection in January. Partnerships with Foundation

 

Andy Warhol’s connection to fashion dates back to his early years as an artist, when his witty shoe photographs caught the attention of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. In the 1970s, the connection became more personal when Warhol became friends with a new generation of New York designers including Calvin Klein. Klein had the goal of portraying a new purely American essence in his creations, an ideal that blended perfectly with Warhol’s interests.

Now, 30 years after Warhol’s death, Raf Simons artistic director of Calvin Kelin intends to renew the relationship between the great American fashion house and the icon of American artists. Thanks to The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Simons is creating what he sees as a deep collaboration with Warhol’s eternal genius, based on the creative ideals they share. Like Warhol’s art, Simons’ designs for 2018 and beyond are aimed at including the place and times we live in.

Calvin Klein has announced a multi-year collaboration with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, which will allow the fashion brand to gain access to the artist’s works. For its part, the financial commitment of Calvin Klein, Inc. will support the foundation that distributes grants for the creation, presentation and documentation of contemporary visual art. The partnership will be in place until 2020 and will extend to licensing projects across various business lines and future initiatives in the brand portfolio.

The Warhol-inspired collection will go on sale from January 2018 and will include a selection of Warhol’s works in the form of screenprints on the garments. The corpus of works is connected to the inspirations of the collection: the cinema, the Hollywood dream factory and its way of portraying the American nightmare as well as the all-powerful American dream.

“I can’t wait to see this partnership implemented on multiple levels of the experience Calvin Klein offers its consumers. I realized that Warhol’s genius goes deeper than the vibrant paintings depicting Campbell’s cans – said the brand’s artistic director Raf Simons – He has portrayed all aspects of the American experience, including sometimes its darker sides. Warhol’s art tells more truths about this nation than it can be found elsewhere.”

“Warhol’s legacy is not limited to the incredible influence of his timeless concepts but also passes through the work of the foundation he set up, which has become one of the main funders of contemporary art by distributing over 275 million “It’s been a long time since it’s been created,” said Michael Dayton Hermann, director of licensing at the Warhol Foundation.

Founded in 1968 by Calvin Klein with business partner Barry Schwartz, the brand has built a reputation as a leader in the American fashion industry thanks to a linear style and innovative clothing. Global retail sales of Calvin Klein products, spread across more than 110 countries, exceeded USD 8 billion in 2016. Calvin Klein employs more than 10,000 people worldwide. In 2003 it was taken over by PVH Corp.