Calvin Klein
Brand History
Calvin Klein was founded as a New York fashion house in 1968 by the designer whose name it bears: a brand that built its identity around an essential, minimalist American aesthetic, often in black and white, spanning jeans, underwear and fragrance to become one of the most recognizable names in American fashion. Since 2002 the brand has belonged to the PVH Corp. group, which manages its licensing portfolio worldwide, watches included.
The watchmaking chapter begins in 1997, when Calvin Klein and Swatch Group signed a licensing agreement to create the "cK watch" line: Swiss Made quartz watches with a deliberately sober language, designed as a discreet accessory rather than the centerpiece of a look, consistent with the house's minimalist aesthetic. In 2014 the brand dropped the lowercase "ck" initials on the dials in favor of the spelled-out "Calvin Klein", while in 2016 the arrival of Raf Simons as creative director brought, for a few seasons, a bolder aesthetic inspired by American imagery and music subcultures, before watch production returned to lines closer to the brand's historic DNA.
In 2019 Swatch Group announced that, after twenty-two years, the license would not be renewed; in August 2020 PVH Corp. signed a new global agreement with Movado Group, which in January 2022 launched the first collection of Calvin Klein watches and jewelry under the new management. Since then the brand's watch production has been run by Movado Group, which places Calvin Klein alongside other fashion names in its watch licensing portfolio, such as Coach and Tommy Hilfiger.
