Successor struggles to don Klein's mantle
The king of minimalism is dead - long live the king. This is the cry from the house of Calvin Klein, where the founder has given the role of chief designer to his Brazilian understudy, Francisco Costa.
Everything about this week's catwalk show was calculated to convey the message that despite Klein's retirement, the Calvin Klein spirit lives on.
The problem is, it's not quite true. Backstage after the show, the compliment that wellwishers kept repeating to Costa was that the show was "very Calvin". But while all the elements of the look were in place - flat-fronted trousers with pin-sharp creases, a spare colour palette of charcoal, tobacco and white, simple tank tops and cardigans in ribbed silk jersey - the empire was already beginning to come apart at the seams. Literally.
When you are paying serious money for an apparently simple garment such as a slim pencil skirt, you are entitled to expect high quality. So when the skirt in question rips almost to the waistband before the model reaches the end of the catwalk, it's not good enough.
Calvin Klein was one of the first high-end designers to espouse a philosophy of chic utility, but his devotees are equally unlikely to be impressed by voluminous chiffon dresses which balloon unbecomingly around the hips and snag perilously on high heels.
The Calvin Klein brand has long ago grown beyond Klein's personal control, with a global network of licences. In February, he took a final step back from the company he launched in 1968 with $10,000, selling it to Phillips-Van Heusen for $700m and standing down as designer.
Klein, who watched the show from the sidelines, could have chosen one of any number of established designers as a successor. They would have jumped at a chance to put their stamp on such an iconic label.
Costa, despite a distinguished track record, is not a name in his own right. The fact that Klein - a man who is rumoured to insist that his employees use only black paperclips - chose him suggests that he did not want his name to be overshadowed, even in retirement.
Everything about this week's catwalk show was calculated to convey the message that despite Klein's retirement, the Calvin Klein spirit lives on.
The problem is, it's not quite true. Backstage after the show, the compliment that wellwishers kept repeating to Costa was that the show was "very Calvin". But while all the elements of the look were in place - flat-fronted trousers with pin-sharp creases, a spare colour palette of charcoal, tobacco and white, simple tank tops and cardigans in ribbed silk jersey - the empire was already beginning to come apart at the seams. Literally.
When you are paying serious money for an apparently simple garment such as a slim pencil skirt, you are entitled to expect high quality. So when the skirt in question rips almost to the waistband before the model reaches the end of the catwalk, it's not good enough.
Calvin Klein was one of the first high-end designers to espouse a philosophy of chic utility, but his devotees are equally unlikely to be impressed by voluminous chiffon dresses which balloon unbecomingly around the hips and snag perilously on high heels.
The Calvin Klein brand has long ago grown beyond Klein's personal control, with a global network of licences. In February, he took a final step back from the company he launched in 1968 with $10,000, selling it to Phillips-Van Heusen for $700m and standing down as designer.
Klein, who watched the show from the sidelines, could have chosen one of any number of established designers as a successor. They would have jumped at a chance to put their stamp on such an iconic label.
Costa, despite a distinguished track record, is not a name in his own right. The fact that Klein - a man who is rumoured to insist that his employees use only black paperclips - chose him suggests that he did not want his name to be overshadowed, even in retirement.
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