Raf Simons Joining Calvin Klein Will Be Chief Creative Officer.

Simons in charge of the US logo.

Before the news came, Dior had hired Valentino former joint creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri to take over her post.

Brand

Series.

Simons submitted his resignation to the French fashion house in LVMH last October.

The industry believes that the Simons competition agreement will expire at the end of July 2016, which explains why the industry generally expects that it will join the Calvin Klein of PVH, but only now has it been confirmed by the company.

The company announces the news through social media, including Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

"Raf Simons joins Calvin Klein as the chief creative officer, which means the beginning of a new brand." Steve Klein, chief executive officer of Calvin Klein, said: "Mr. Klein was led by a creative prophet in the company period. Now I can confidently say that the decision will lead the brand of the" Calvin "brand to a higher level and will have an important impact on the future.

Raf's outstanding contribution to fashion has helped build the modern fashions we know in this life, and under his leadership, Calvin Klein will be more firmly in the position of its leading international lifestyle brand.

As part of the creative strategy of the costumes and accessories brand, Calvin Klein also announced that Pieter Mulier will be the brand creative director, reporting directly to Raf.

"Mulier will be responsible for the creative and design vision of Simons for men's wear, dress and accessories in Calvin Klein."

In a statement issued by the company, the company also said that.

In April 2016, the company announced the departure of Calvin Klein Collection dress designer Francisco Costa and menswear designer Italo Zucchelli, which paved the way for its global creative strategy. The company wants to classify all Calvin Klein brands as a creative direction.

Simons leads the company's leading brands, including: CK Calvin Klein, Calvin Klein Jeans and Calvin Klein, and men's and women's clothing series.

According to this new initiative, the designer will have all the creative control rights: the brand image from underwear, perfume advertising to the secondary line and household products will be under control.

According to him, this is what he coveted for a long time in Christian Dior, and the Dior men's clothing, shop concept and beauty makeup were all responsible by other designers.

At the same time, Simons has been bluntly criticizing the pressure of designers on the current fashion system and its creative process.

How he will face these problems in the new large group remains to be seen.

"Technically, it works.

But does it make sense to me? No, because I'm not the kind of person who likes to do things so fast, "he told Cathy Horyn in an interview last year.

"I think if I have more time, I will refuse more things and bring other ideas or concepts.

But this is not necessarily good.

Sometimes you spend too much time making things worse. "

The appointment also marks a marked change in the strategy of Calvin Klein.

Previously, its high-end garments were simply regarded as marketing tools for other brands.

"This is not a business that can contribute to the bottom line of interest, and perhaps never," said Tom Murry, former president and chief executive of Calvin Klein, in an interview with BoF in 2011. "For us, it is a marketing expense."

By giving the creative control of the clothing series to Simons, its brand CEO Steve Shiffman and Calvin Klein Collection President Michelle Kessler-Sanders seem to have renewed interest in the show.

The move also highlights opportunities for high-end accessories, which bring major benefits to luxury brands such as Dior, while Calvin Klein has not yet made a contribution to this category.

This is also one of the greatest talents of this generation, Simons's largest platform to achieve its vision.

The company's wide range of brands and businesses certainly needs Simons to ponder over the past, and this may not be his nature.

Fashion has become popular.

I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, "he said last year." the only thing I know is that fashion was originally lean.

I don't know if a person will be ashamed or denied that fashion is becoming more elite, not for everyone's better.

Nowadays, high fashion is for everyone.

Calvin Klein, like many other brands owned by PVH group, has been relying on its franchise and wholesale business since 1980s, selling products from women's clothing to bedclothes.

But Macy retail partners such as Messi's s haven't had a good time now, because the electricity supplier is rising, and retail and other markets are constantly changing, thus pforming the way of consumption.

In 2012, PVH bought Warnaco group for $2 billion 900 million, becoming the first step to consolidate its Calvin Klein brand. The group had held two franchise licenses for cowboys and underwear, which enabled them to gain direct control over the two businesses worldwide.

When Calvin Klein Collection has only one store, PVH already owns about 1450 stores, including Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Van Heusen, and has 1100 Calvin stores, a department store or store store operated by the company.

In 2015, Calvin Klein posted a revenue of $2 billion 900 million, an increase of 2.2% over the previous year.

An important part of growth comes from its perfume licensing business.

The business has been controlled by Coty, which bought the license from the global perfume business of Unilever (Unilever) in 2005 at a price of 800 million US dollars.

Coty group also has the business license of Calvin Klein make-up products, which was bought from Markwins International Group in 2010. Its CK One Color make-up line, which was launched in 2012, was later shelved.

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If Calvin Klein really wants to exert its strength on the Calvin Klein Collection brand of its advanced garments, and calls it the annual salary paid to Simons 1800 $10000, the problem is that it has diversified business types and business models, and how to harmoniously co-exist in a unified creative direction.

In today's era of intense competition, some companies have adopted other ways to simplify their portfolios and focus on their best practices.

For example, Lu Wei Ming Xuan group, which has just sold Donna Karan International, is partly due to its DKNY's sub line mode that does not meet the group's profit expectations.

It is worth noting that G-III, a listed company, bought the brand from 650 million dollars. It owns Calvin Klein women's wear, outdoor clothing and low-end products in department stores.

(in February of this year, PVH and G-III reached a similar agreement on Tommy Hilfiger brand.

)

On the other hand, Mr. Calvin Klein, the brand's founder, has been making constant noises over the past few months to boycott the business model that makes him a multimillionaire.

"Really smart retailers, such as Zara in Europe and Uniqlo in Asia, do not use luxury words," he said recently. "But I can tell you that I know very much about cowboy fabrics, and the same cowboy fabric used in Uniqlo is worth 1000 yuan in the 57 Street designer shop."

Klein sold its namesake company to PVH in 2003, when it sold for 400 million US dollars and 30 million of current stock.

According to a 2002 report, "the stock price is linked to its revenue in the next 15 years".

Klein and its business partner Barry Schwartz retired after the acquisition.

Costa and Zucchelli are the two designers hired when they are in office.

Simons's modern minimalist design seems very suitable for Klein's first image first introduced in 1968, when he launched a series of formal coats.

Simons will also be the first designer to take charge of the brand without any direct contact with its founder.

It is interesting to see how PVH, which is not particularly good at high fashion, compared with its peers in Europe, and how Kering can change its brand management mode and how far it can go under the leadership of new ideas.

In any case, Simons's debut with the brand will be the most anticipated fashion show in New York fashion week. This is an undisputed fact.