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Francisco Costa, Italo Zucchelli Leave Calvin Klein

April 19, 2016

Marc Karimzadeh

In a major American fashion shakeup, Calvin Klein Inc. announced today that creative directors Francisco Costa and Italo Zucchelli are leaving the brand.

Both Costa and Zucchelli are much-acclaimed and esteemed CFDA Members. During his decade at Calvin Klein Collection, Costa, Collection women’s creative director, has won the CFDA’s Womenswear Designer of the Year Award in 2006 and 2008 and served on the CFDA board; Zucchelli, Collection men’s creative director and current CFDA board member, took home the Menswear Designer of the Year Award in 2009. Each has brought a strong and distinct vision to Calvin Klein.

Prior to Calvin Klein, Costa worked with Tom Ford at Gucci and, before that, with Oscar de la Renta. Zucchelli was at Jil Sander before. Both designers worked with Mr. Calvin Klein before taking over the creative direction of the brand’s Collection.

“I would like to thank Francisco and Italo for their unwavering commitment to the Calvin Klein brand and their accomplishments over the past decade,” said Steve Shiffman, CEO of Calvin Klein, Inc. “They have both contributed immensely to making Calvin Klein a global leader in the fashion industry, and they have done so with dedication, focus and creativity.”

The departure of the two creative directors is part of a “new global creative strategy” that aims to unify all Calvin Klein brands under one creative vision.

According to CKI, the strategy “comes as part of a global evolution in the direction of the Calvin Klein brand, which began with the reacquisition of its jeans and underwear businesses in 2013.

The future will be led by one creative director for all categories, widely expected to be Raf Simons, the former creative director of Christian Dior and Jil Sander.

“This creative strategy marks the beginning of another significant chapter in Calvin Klein’s brand legacy since Mr. Klein’s retirement,” Shiffman said.

Calvin Klein
cfda board
cfda womenswear designer of the year
Francisco Costa
Italo Zucchelli
menswear
menswear designer of the year
steve shiffman
Womenswear

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