Veronica Leoni is one of the few women to be appointed to the top of the creative side of a major brand in the past year. NEW YORK – Calvin Klein, a brand that recently made waves with an advertisement campaign featuring American actor Jeremy Allen White in nothing but his underwear, is getting a little more buttoned up. On May 30, it announced it would restart its high-end Collection business under new creative director Veronica Leoni, along with a return to the runway – and, perhaps, to its former position as a tentpole of New York Fashion Week.
Leoni will be the first named designer Calvin Klein has had in five years and the first woman to lead the American fashion house. She is one of the few women to be appointed to the top of the creative side of a major brand in the past year, when most of the big jobs have been given to white men. Her appointment reflects the fact that jeans and influencers may not be enough to sustain a global name even in the era of social media – that an actual design point of view may be necessary.
It is also a sign of the upheaval in the fashion world, which has had a rash of designer appointments and reshuffling at brands such as Valentino, Alexander McQueen and Moschino as the luxury business is increasingly challenged by the macro political and economic environment. Calvin Klein reported 2023 revenues of US$3.9 billion (S$5.
3 billion), a growth of only 3 per cent. “We see this as an exciting opportunity to celebrate Calvin Klein’s re.
