by StyleCaster

It seems like only yesterday we were dousing ourselves in CK1 and heading to a middle school dance in nothing but our Calvins. Today we take a moment to honor the man behind the powerhouse company that taught us unisex perfume was OK and that naked men in bulging briefs was a mainstay.

Yes, Calvin Klein is ringing in his 69th birthday this weekend, so we thought it was only appropriate to countdown some of our favorite CK ads throughout the years. (We especially love this controversial commerical that was banned back in the 90s.)  Thought-provoking, scandalous and pretty awesome in our books -- let's toast the guy that put Kate Moss , Brooke Shields and Marky Mark (err, Mark Wahlberg ) on the map.

Happy Birthday Calvin! We hope it's a great one!

Source: Calvin Klein's B-Day: A Flashback To His Most Memorable Ads on ...

by get rid of fleas

In 1968, Calvin Klein founded Calvin Klein Ltd., a coat shop in the York Hotel in New York City, with $10,000. Legend has it that a year later a buyer from Bonwit Teller got off the elevator on the wrong floor, & ended up placing a $50,000 order. It is much more likely although, that Klein showed his function to Bonwit Teller staff, which led towards the first Calvin Klein collection: a line of men’s & women’s coats featured in the New York City store.

In 1969, Mr. Klein, who was later described as “the supreme master of minimalism,” appeared on the cover of Vogue magazine. By 1971, sportswear, classic blazers together with lingerie were added to his women’s collection portfolio.

In 1973, they was awarded the Coty Award for the first time, which they received for three consecutive years, for his 74-piece womenswear collection. By 1977, annual revenues had jumped to $30 million, & they had licenses for scarves, shoes, belts, furs, sunglasses, & sheets. Klein & Schwartz were creating $4 million each. After the company signed licenses for cosmetics, jeans, & menswear, Klein’s annual retail volume was estimated at $100 million. In 1978, Klein claimed sales of 200,000 pairs of his famous jeans the first week they were on the industry. By 1981, Fortune magazine figured Klein’s annual income at $8.5 million a year. Inside the mid-1970s, they had created a designer-jeans craze by putting his name on the back pocket. The jeans were famously advertised with a commercial featuring a 15-year-old Brooke Shields cooing in 1979/80 that “nothing comes between me & my Calvins” & “I’ve got three Calvins in my closet, & if they could talk, I’d be ruined.” Controversial advertising and marketing, including a series of ads featuring adolescents in sexually evocative poses, has been a recurring theme for the company. Shields advertised for Klein underclothes in 1984 also.

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