Calvin Klein’s return to the runway after a seven-year hiatus drew an enthusiastic crowd to West 39th Street last Friday. Original muses Kate Moss and Christy Turlington flanked founder Calvin Klein himself, now 82, as the house unveiled the Calvin Klein Collection Fall/Winter 2025 collection under new Creative director Veronica Leoni. The Rome-born designer, the first woman to lead the brand in its six-decade history, delivered a lineup steeped in quiet confidence, reinterpreting archival codes without nostalgia.
Leoni’s approach blends her European sensibility with what she calls “personal exotic dreams with America.” Growing up in Rome in the 1990s, she absorbed the myth of Calvin Klein through CK One ads and borrowed her father’s oversized shirts-a touchstone reflected in the slouchy suits and skinny denim of Fall/Winter 2025. The characters of the collection in Leoni’s mind – Clark Kent, Jessica Rabbit, the “sexy worker,” the cab driver – emerged through tailoring that balanced precision with ease: stovepipe pants paired with boxy blazers, pajama-soft shirts next to crisp trenches. Outerwear anchored the show, from enveloping double-faced wool coats to a provocative organza “fur” that slid off the shoulders.
Menswear proved equally thoughtful. Western-inspired square-toe boots and brushed denim nodded to Raf Simons‘ time at Calvin Klein 205W39NYC, while nautical berets and oversized anoraks showcased Leoni’s flair for recontextualizing workwear. “In menswear you need to find your muses outside of yourself,” she noted, contrasting it with the intuitive process of designing womenswear. Her wife, however, became the ultimate muse: “the sexiest woman I know“, influencing slinky pencil skirts and scarf coats worn with the brand’s “most essential cashmere sweater“.
Leoni’s concept of “sexitude” permeated the lineup – a term she defines as possession rather than exposure. Transparency came in the form of glittering skirts layered over turtlenecks; seduction lived in a gold beaded dress that whispered with every step. Even the CK One bottle, reincarnated as a clutch, winked at the era when Klein’s fragrance ads redefined androgyny.
Klein’s presence signaled approval. “He was happy, I think,” Leoni laughed when asked about their exchange. His presence, alongside Moss and Turlington, underscored a homecoming for the brand-one that Leoni hopes to sustain by honoring its DNA while pushing forward.
©Photo: Calvin Klein