Calvin Klein debuts underwear collection printed with Andy Warhol’s art stills

By

Arati Menon

Published
Feb 8, 2018

It’s a fashion collaboration with little comparison — Calvin Klein has just debuted a capsule collection of its classic men’s and women’s underwear printed with provocative black and white stills from Andy Warhol’s experimental 1963 film ‘Kiss’.

 
The collection is part of the larger Calvin Klein’s 205W39NYC Spring-Summer '18 collection that has used iconic Warhol art as screen prints across men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, denim, and accessories. The inspiration — Hollywood and its portrayal of the all-powerful American dream.
 
Calvin Klein’s decision to partner with the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, announced in November last year, was described by the brand as a “marriage of two pop cultural icons”. The multi-year partnership involves the American fashion house financially supporting the foundation’s grant endowment in return for unparalleled access to the artist’s work 30 years after his death — including works that haven’t been published.

The brand’s association with Warhol, however, dates back to the 1970s, when Warhol befriended a whole generation of young New York designers attempting to capture the essence of a new American era — Calvin Klein was one of them.
 
Raf Simons, who was appointed the brand’s chief creative officer in 2016, stated in a press release, “I’ve come to realize that Warhol’s genius goes much deeper than cheerful Campbell’s Soup paintings… Warhol’s art tells more truths about this country than you can find almost anywhere else.”
 
The global partnership is effective through 2020 and will extend to licensing projects across various business lines.
 
The brand’s flagship store hasn’t been left out of the fun, either. Starting earlier this week, the freshly redesigned Madison Avenue store is a reimagined, site-specific version of one of Andy Warhol’s artwork most iconic artworks, 'Silver Clouds'. Warhol’s original artwork, supposedly an announcement of his retirement, consisted of 15 floating metallic pillow-like balloons bouncing about his Factory.
 
At the brand’s store however, there are hundreds of floating untethered balloons, designed to be impacted by the entry and movement of visitors, inviting interaction.
 
The balloons for this installation are printed with images from the new Spring 2018 Calvin Klein 205W39NYC runway collection, which was out in stores starting January. The 'Kiss' range of underwear debuts ahead of Valentine’s Day.

The Warhol partnership is just one instance of Simons breathing life back into Calvin Klein. He has unified the brand across categories, replaced a moodier aesthetic with an overwhelming sense of optimism (the flagship store is bright yellow — a Calvin Klein first) and populated campaigns and runways with a a slew of fresh-faced models.  

The brand's #MYCALVINS campaign, which kicked off last year, has seen a rollout of some of music and fashion's edgiest stars. Last month, the campaign cast the Kardashian and Jenner sisters for a family-themed campaign.