Calvin Klein

About

Calvin Richard Klein (Hungarian: Klein Richárd Kálvin; born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer. In 1968, he launched the company that later became Calvin Klein. In addition to clothing, he has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewellery.

Klein was born on November 19, 1942 in the Bronx, New York City to a Jewish family. He is the son of Flore (née Stern; 1909–2006) and Leo Klein. His father was born in Boiany, Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine) and had immigrated to New York. He was born in the United States, to immigrants from Galicia and Bukovina, Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine/Romania).
As a child, Klein attended J.H.S. 80 in the Bronx. He earned a diploma at the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan. After graduation, he attended New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, leaving for six months after his first year, before returning to finish his degree.
He was one of several design leaders raised in the Jewish community in the Bronx, along with Ralph Lauren and Robert Denning.

Klein did his apprenticeship in 1962 at an old line cloak-and-suit manufacturer, Dan Millstein, and he spent five years designing…