Calvin Klein (fashion designer)

Calvin Klein
Klein at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival Vanity Fair party
Born	Calvin Richard Klein (1942-11-19) November 19, 1942 (age 74) Bronx, New York, U.S.
Residence	Southampton, New York
Education	Fashion Institute of Technology
Occupation	Fashion designer
Spouse(s)	Jayne Centre (m. 1965; div. 1974) Kelly Rector (m. 1986; div. 2006)
Children	Marci Klein
Parent(s)	Flore Stern Klein Leo Klein
Labels	Calvin Klein Inc.

Calvin Richard Klein (/ˈkælvᵻn ˈrɪtʃərd klaɪn/; born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry.

Klein is an American fashion designer of Hungarian ancestry. He was born to a Jewish family in The Bronx, New York, the son of Flore (née Stern) and Leo Klein. .He went to Isobel Rooney Middle School 80 (M.S.80) as a kid. His father was an immigrant from Hungary while his mother was the daughter of an immigrant from Austria and an American dentist. He attended the High School of Art and Design and matriculated at, but never graduated from, New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, receiving an honorary Doctorate in 2003. He did his apprenticeship in 1962 at an oldline cloak-and-suit manufacturer, Dan Millstein, and spent five years designing at other New York City shops. In 1968, he launched his first company with a childhood friend,Barry K. Schwartz.

Klein was one of several design leaders raised in the Jewish immigrant community in the Bronx, along with Robert Denning and Ralph Lauren. He became a of Baron de Gunzburg, through whose introductions he became the toast of the New York elite fashion scene even before he had his first mainstream success with the launch of his first jeans line. He was immediately recognized for his talent after his first major showing at New York City Fashion Week. He was hailed as the new Yves Saint Laurent, and was noted for his clean lines.