KLEIN, CALVIN

born Nov. 19, 1942, Bronx, New York, N.Y., U.S. in full Calvin Richard Klein American fashion designer noted for his womenswear, menswear, cosmetics, bed and bath linens, and other designer collections. Klein studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and, after graduating in 1962, went to work as an apprentice designer for a coat-and-suit manufacturer in the New York garment district. In 1968, when he opened his own company, the fashion industry was in a depressed period, with casual hippie-style clothing and the miniskirt defining the range of fashions. The direction Klein took was to provide simple, understated clothing. Though noted at first for suits and coats, he gradually placed more emphasis on sportswear, particularly interchangeable separates. Klein was the first designer to win three consecutive Coty Awards for womenswear (197375) and was the youngest designer of ready-to-wear clothes ever elected to the Coty Hall of Fame (1975). He described his design philosophy as the making of simple, comfortable but stylish clothesbut with nothing overscale or extreme. His clothes were relatively expensive, classic, elegant, and easy to wear, and they struck a responsive chord among buyers in the United States and other countries. His achievements were said to represent not only the triumph of his particular brand of classical styling but also the maturation of the American fashion industry.