The Belgian fashion designer Raf Simons, considered one of the most talented of his generation, will have left Calvin Klein just over two years after it, said parent company PVH on Friday.
“Both parties have kindly decided to separate after Calvin Klein, Inc has decided a new brand direction that differs from Simons’ creative vision,” the company said in a statement.
The arrival of the autodidactic Simons in New York in August 2016 after four years with Dior caused a sensation. Dublynchronized “Chief Creative Officer”, he had enormous powers to breathe new life into the American brand, which trusted him to increase the profit of his high-end collection.
But there has been speculation about his potential departure since November, after an official from PVH has distributed him part of the debt for falling sale.
PVH did not indicate when Simons would leave, but according to the New York Times his departure is immediately, although his contract ends in less than six months.
No details have been given about who will replace him or what he will do after his departure.
During his short stint at Calvin Klein, Simons Lof collected from the fashion world for his innovative collections, and he received three prizes from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
Calvin Klein’s shows on the New York Fashion Week were among the most popular, but the fashion house does not organize catwalk events during the next fashion week that takes place in February, PVH said.
Simons´ Last Fashion Week Runway Show In September was inspired by “Jaws”, the Steven Spielberg Blockbuster film from 1975.
“The landscape of America – literally and psychologically – inspires Calvin Klein. A journey through America inevitably leads to the edge of the landscape: the beach”, where “this incredible idea of beauty is, but also a tension,” Simons wrote in Noten for the show.
Simons, 50, is credited for giving the iconic American label renewed relevance, his collections dive deep into the good, the bad and the ugly of the United States.
But several news sites in the industry had speculated about the departure of Simons, after the head of the PVH Group blamed him during a profit presentation in the third quarter for a lack of dynamics in the sale.
PVH chairman and CEO Emanuel “Manny” Chirico announced a more commercialized marketing approach, indicating that Simons’ Creative ended.
Calvin Klein, the New Yorker who set up the label with his name in 1968, sold it to PVH in 2003, which also has the Tommy Hilfiger brand.
