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Looks like Calvin Klein is discontinuing its top of the line luxury collection, focusing on its premium segment offerings. Calvin Klein did face a tough third quarter in 2018, although things might be turning around.
It's just too bad that most of their products now are made in China...
But back to OP:
Calvin Klein isn't in a big trouble. He has split with Simons around last Christmas.
The pricey, multimillion dollar experiment with Simons went bust after a mere 28 months, and eight months before the end of a three-year deal with the Belgian designer. Simons was definitely too much for Klein, although his brand needs a designer collection in order to be competitive. There is some loss in profit already, and Klein needs to regroup and rethink his future moves.
The New York-based brand “will be closing its Calvin Klein Collection business,” the runway line rebranded to Calvin Klein 205W39NYC during Simons’ 2-year tenure, according to the New York Post. “In light of the closure, Calvin Klein will be eliminating [roughly 100] employees who worked in that division.”
Raf Simons had worked with smaller companies that did not have the brand reach that Calvin Klein did, and he was too creative to unify the company under one strategic vision. Some people are great designers, yet need good management to hone their vision, which didn't happen with Calvin Klein and its various products that are nearly as diversified as Ralph Lauren when counting various collections and home goods.
Since Calvin Klein is owned by a large apparel business, the expectation that business units meet operating goals is more pronounced than a single designer label that is more focused. It's not surprising that an under performing asset would be shuttered as opposed to attempting to turn around a situation that will not return profits. The collection was competing with pret-a-porter Chanel and Carolina Herrera, yet didn't take significant market share, likely because of the lack of a clear focus through the lines from the designer to the department store. This left the company without unified vision for its mass markets that were related to the designer products, and was one of the reasons why CK had a creative director in Raf Simons, who is very talented, but wasn't a fit for the corporate environment of a large brand that is tipped in favor of profit.
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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
I actually wonder how are Ralph Lauren's luxury Purple Label (men's) and Collection (women's) labels are doing. These I think are mainly found at Ralph Lauren's full price boutiques and some high-end clothing stores. With Mr. Ralph Lauren now stepped down as CEO, I wonder what are the future for these luxury labels. Black Label, which slotted between Polo (aka Blue Label) and Purple Label was discontinued a few years ago.
205 is incredibly expensive. I'd definitely wear it if it didn't cost so much. Two or three items cost as much as my rent.
Calvin Klein always seems to struggle in the luxury department. Collection was fine for females but too soft for the average man. Maybe some metrosexuals were into it. 205 definitely had more to offer, but I always felt like Raf Simmons was competing against his own label. Sort of how it was for Tom Ford at Gucci.
I actually wonder how are Ralph Lauren's luxury Purple Label (men's) and Collection (women's) labels are doing. These I think are mainly found at Ralph Lauren's full price boutiques and some high-end clothing stores. With Mr. Ralph Lauren now stepped down as CEO, I wonder what are the future for these luxury labels. Black Label, which slotted between Polo (aka Blue Label) and Purple Label was discontinued a few years ago.
Well at the time Ralph Lauren was King Midas and could do no wrong.
Now, like 15, 20 years later. I'm not so sure. I think the problem with RL has always been that the Blue label was like 70 percent of the profits and everything else was an experiment that eventually got folded into the Blue label. I'm surprised this hasn't happened already with RRL.
RL has more dead labels than it does alive ones. The collaboration with JC Penny is dead. Rugby is dead. University is dead. There was a denim label that was essentially a subset of Rugby that is also dead. Polo Jeans, in its original incarnation, is dead. Polo Sport hangs on, for whatever reason. And Black Label, which felt redundant because the positioning was unclear, is dead. I could never tell if Black Label was higher than Purple or not. It was definitely higher than the Blue label. The Green label is also dead, but that is good for the market overall.
I guess the Green label was an answer to Liz Claiborne.
Well at the time Ralph Lauren was King Midas and could do no wrong.
Now, like 15, 20 years later. I'm not so sure. I think the problem with RL has always been that the Blue label was like 70 percent of the profits and everything else was an experiment that eventually got folded into the Blue label. I'm surprised this hasn't happened already with RRL.
RL has more dead labels than it does alive ones. The collaboration with JC Penny is dead. Rugby is dead. University is dead. There was a denim label that was essentially a subset of Rugby that is also dead. Polo Jeans, in its original incarnation, is dead. Polo Sport hangs on, for whatever reason. And Black Label, which felt redundant because the positioning was unclear, is dead. I could never tell if Black Label was higher than Purple or not. It was definitely higher than the Blue label. The Green label is also dead, but that is good for the market overall.
I guess the Green label was an answer to Liz Claiborne.
Black was essentially between Blue and Purple. As for American Living, it was kind of redundant with Chaps, although it was marketed as more of an in-house exclusive line while Chaps at the time was 100% licensed out. It was only more recently that Ralph Lauren brought some of the Chaps product categories in-house (one of them, men's sportswear, was bought back from Warnaco after Warnaco was bought by PVH).
Black was essentially between Blue and Purple. As for American Living, it was kind of redundant with Chaps, although it was marketed as more of an in-house exclusive line while Chaps at the time was 100% licensed out. It was only more recently that Ralph Lauren brought some of the Chaps product categories in-house (one of them, men's sportswear, was bought back from Warnaco after Warnaco was bought by PVH).
Its probably a good thing for Chaps that this has happened. I figured that Black was between Blue and Purple but I don't know if consumers ever got that message clearly. Black felt like a nice alternative to Calvin Klein Collection and Emporio Armani.
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