KEEP IT CLASSIC
Denim is back in a big way, as BAZAAR headed to Singapore to preview Calvin Klein Jeans’s new take for Autumn ’17. By Mughni Che Din.
Provocative, youthful, and sexy, Calvin Klein Jeans is the original designer jeans brand, created in 1978, and defined by the distinctive stitch pattern on its back pockets. However, it wasn’t until 1980 when a controversial campaign featuring then-15-year-old Brooke Shields in jeans (Calvin Klein, naturally) and an unbuttoned shirt, caused such an uproar that it ironically boosted the sales of its jeans by 200,000 pairs. Overnight, Calvin Klein Jeans became an American household name. After years of internal restructuring, where it evolved from supplying denim offerings to catering younger, street-inspired casualwear, the brand today is under the purview of Raf Simons, Calvin Klein’s chief creative officer. Reshaping the identity of the iconic brand in his signature winning ways, Simons is producing pieces that are modern, minimalist, and art-inspired this season. Extending its legacy of sexy denims by unveiling a sensual, youthful collection, Calvin Klein Jeans Autumn ’17 comes with a modern twist and a sense of everyday wearability. Beloved denim fits come in high-waisted straight cuts with cropped lengths or edgy step-hems, perfectly showing off the season’s inventive boots. Meanwhile, the reinvented Canadian tux is offered in androgynous pairings of short bomber or light-denim girlfriend shirts and loose-fitting jeans for a contemporary ’90s revival. Dress-over-jeans layering is also present—less Britney Spears circa the Noughties, and more utilitarian chic. See: extended-bomber denim coat dress or a ribbed dress, styled with white sneakers. While classic sweaters and formfitting turtlenecks in luxurious cashmeres make up the integral part of the womenswear collection, a few appealing looks from the men’s range are hard to exclude, too. One, in particular, is the military down jacket with a faux fur-lined hood—almost Westerosi in reference, which comes in a different fit and length to cater to both men and women. All in all, Calvin Klein Jeans Autumn ’17 has stayed evidently true to its DNA, and with the recent appointment of British designer Luella Bartley as head of global design, Calvin Klein Jeans is heading towards the singular spirit of Simons’s Calvin Klein. And as Shields notoriously quoted in her 1980 campaign, “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” Available at Calvin Klein Jeans stores nationwide