Calvin Klein announces departure of Raf Simons as chief creative officer
The American fashion house will be absent from New York Fashion Week 2019
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Your support makes all the difference.Calvin Klein has revealed Raf Simons is stepping down from his role as chief creative officer of the brand, less than two years after assuming the position.
PVH Corp, the clothing company that owns brands including Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Geoffrey Beene, made the announcement on Friday 21 December.
Stating that Simons and Calvin Klein have “amicably decided to part ways”, the company explained the American retailer has made the decision to move in a direction that “differs from Simons’ creative vision”.
The Belgian fashion designer’s first collection for Calvin Klein debuted at New York Fashion Week in February 2017.
Featuring a variety of professional, brightly-coloured, monochrome ensembles, the collection was perhaps best summarised by fashion critic Cathy Horyn. “The most anticipated fashion show in decades turned out to be brilliant,” she wrote for New York Magazine‘s The Cut.
When Simons was first appointed as chief creative officer, Calvin Klein chief executive Steve Shiffman expressed his excitement over the positive influence Simons’ innovative outlook would have on the brand’s reputability within the fashion industry.
“The arrival of Raf Simons as chief creative officer signifies a momentous new chapter for Calvin Klein,” he said in a statement.
“Not since Mr Klein himself was at the company has it been led by one creative visionary, and I am confident that this decision will drive the Calvin Klein brand and have a significant impact on its future.”
Simons’ abrupt departure from Calvin Klein comes eight months before his contract was due to expire, Vogue reports.
PVH Corp chief executive and chairman Emanuel Chirico recently commented on Calvin Klein’s faltering commercial performance, saying that while the brand continues to “command strong brand health and desire in all markets”, its third quarter this year has “experienced softness”.
Before joining Calvin Klein, Simons was creative director of womenswear for Christian Dior.
In October 2015 he resigned from the position after three and a half years, saying that his choice came from a wish to “focus on other interests in my life, including my own brand, and passions that drive me outside my work,” according to a statement issued to Women’s Wear Daily.
The designer launched his eponymous label in 1995 after becoming a self-trained menswear designer.
Further to the news that Simons is leaving Calvin Klein, PVH Corp revealed the fashion house will not be present at New York Fashion Week in February 2019.
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