So it is official: Raf Simons has departed Calvin Klein after less than two years as Chief Creative Officer at the American fashion house. The formal announcement from PVH Corp., Calvin Klein's parent company, arrived yesterday, stating: "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 was appointed in August of 2016, prior to which he worked as Creative Director at Dior. At Calvin Klein Simons replaced Francisco Costa (womenswear creative director) and Italo Zucchelli (menswear) and was in charge of Calvin Klein Collection, Calvin Klein Platinum, Calvin Klein, Calvin Klein Jeans, Calvin Klein Underwear and Calvin Klein Home brands. Simons' longtime associate, Pieter Mulier, was appointed Creative Director, reporting directly to Simons and managing the men's and women's design teams within the Calvin Klein brand.
Simons' first acclaimed collection appeared in February 2017 and soon the brand's show became the main attraction of an otherwise long, yet uninteresting, calendar at New York Fashion Week.
Things didn't go as well as hoped on a commercial level and Simons' departure was in the air: at the end of November Emanuel Chirico, chairman and CEO of PVH Corp., stated the group was disappointed by the lack of return on their investments in the Calvin Klein 205W39NYC line, adding that he believed some of Calvin Klein Jeans' relaunched products did not sell well as they were too elevated.
Chirico also pointed out that collections had to become more commercial from 2019 (a decision anticipated by the company's recent commercial events with Amazon) and that investments in the collections and advertising would be shifted elsewhere from runway shows to influencers as well.
According to reports Calvin Klein's third-quarter earnings fell to $121 million (from $142 million a year earlier), one of the reasons why PVH missed Wall Street estimates for the first time in at least two years.
There may be disruptions for the brand as Simons signed a three year contract that was going to expire in the summer of 2019 and Calvin Klein will therefore not present a collection during the Fall 2019 season in New York (something that will undoubtedly have an impact on the fashion calendar...).
But what were the weaknesses of this collaboration between Calvin Klein and Simons? The designers' collections were critical successes for journalists (even when they showed connections and derivations from American designers - remember the bizarre Bonnie Cashin "coincidence"?), but they were maybe a bit too arty.
Simons incorporated in his shows sets by Sterling Ruby, came up with a deal with the Andy Warhol Foundation to use the artist's works on Calvin Klein products and combined in his collections a series of American tropes, including quilts, cowboy culture, cheerleaders, the high school years, horror stories and iconic films such as The Graduate and Jaws, celebrating the culture, but adding to it a quirky and dark edge.
Simons may have overspent on arty investments, grand sets, fabric elaborations and luxurious fabrications, yet he still generated an interest about the company and won a series of awards including the CFDA Award for Womenswear and Menswear Designer of the Year (in 2017) and the women's prize again this year.
When he exited Dior, Simons stated that his decision was based on his desire "to focus on other interests," including his own brand and personal passions.
Shortly afterwards, he also shared his views on the rhythms of fashion in interviews, claiming that the relentless catwalk shows and collections meant that there was no time for letting ideas grow and mature. Yet moving to Calvin Klein, a major global company, wasn't maybe the best decision for him as he didn't manage to set a proper new direction for the brand.
Maybe he didn't manage to do it because there were too many duties in his hands. In September the company reduced some of his responsibilities and wanted him to agree to a new contract that shifted some of his responsibilities including store design, visual merchandising, e-commerce, public relations and communications, and corporate social responsibility to Marie Gulin-Merle, chief marketing officer. But sources say that Simons didn't like the restrictions.
Or maybe the reasons for this failure stands in the fact that fashion houses and brands do not consider how much consumers are currently willing to spend on new clothes or how our collective habits are slowly changing and some of us have definitely started buying less pieces to reduce personal expenses and adopt a more responsible and sustainable behaviour towards our planet.
Simons and his team (including his colleague and the creative director of Calvin Klein womenswear Pieter Mulier who posted a black screen with no caption on his Instagram account to break the news) aren't the only ones to leave - it was recently announced that also Rod Manley, executive vice president of global communications at Calvin Klein Inc., is leaving the New York-based fashion house.
So the future is foggy at Calvin Klein, but is also remains uncertain for all people working in the fashion industry: Emanuel Chirico claimed that, apart from being too expensive, the products they were selling were too fashion-forward, but fashion is a forward industry. If it is not ready for conceptualisms, if it is just aiming to sell commercial products, where is the innovation? Will investing in the possibilities offered by e-commerce, digital platforms and O2O events, and splashing more money on influencers bring financial success to Calvin Klein. Maybe in the short term, but these options do not generate memorable moments or products on a historical level (well, probably CK is not looking for museum fame at the moment, but just for money..).
As the year comes to an end and the favourite game of the industry - designer musical chair - restarts, there's only one thing's for sure, if a critically acclaimed designer departs a big fashion company, and is considered disposable and replaceable, then there is very little hope for younger generations of designers who still have to find their path and establish their styles and names. Looks like the industry is an endless game of musical chairs, join at your peril.
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