PVH-owned fashion brand Calvin Klein has teamed up with contemporary American artist, Sterling Ruby to overhaul the retail experience at its stores. The Madison Avenue outlet in New York that reopened its doors over the weekend with a bright makeover is the first store to dress up in the new CK style.
Calvin Klein is leaving no stone unturned to revamp its ‘brand identity’ under new the Chief Creative Officer, Raf Simons, who joined the iconic brand in 2016. Simons has already changed the brand’s logo and revolutionised their sartorial aesthetic. The new store concept is also a part of Simons’ plans for CK.
Originally designed by John Pawson, the newly opened 3-storey retail location has been turned into an upbeat ‘world of yellow’, painting everything from walls, pipes to support beams in the colour.
Ruby has also added intonations of red textile scaffoldings hanging from the ceiling, display shelves in woody brown and some in shades of green acting as accents in the space. The recolouring of the store is starkly different from its old minimal look and represents a new dawn for the label that is going for the ongoing maximalist trend of the moment.
The refurbished store will also temporarily exhibit Sterling’s art installation that will mark the entry of Simons’ first collection for Calvin Klein that was showcased at New York Fashion Week’s Fall/Winter 2017-18 edition.
Talking of the renovation Simons says, “I wanted the store to generate a very immediate physical experience that could as well be intimately connected to the collections. The use of very direct and familiar references common to the American visual experience creates a simple and emotional connection with the brand.”
Ruby and Simons have been creative partners for a long time, having worked together during Simons’ time at Dior. The artist’s work often aligns with the all-American style that Simons is currently trying to achieve at Calvin Klein. It is perhaps for this very reason that Simons has commissioned the LA-based artist to help him design the store’s aesthetic in a way that stands parallel to the brand’s new creative direction.
In addition to the latest Autumn/Winter assortment, the amped up store will also be hosting a slew of home décor products like vintage quilts, coffee mugs from Homer Laughlin and Rose Cabat’s ceramic “Feelies”, in conjunction with Calvin Klein’s bedding collection.
