| Calvin Klein confirmed in October 2026 that Veronica Leoni is leaving after four seasons as Creative director of Calvin Klein Collection. Leoni was appointed in May 2024. Her debut show took place at New York Fashion Week in February 2025. PVH reported Calvin Klein sales down 7 percent year over year in Q2. |
Veronica Leoni is leaving Calvin Klein after a closely watched attempt to rebuild the house’s high end fashion offer. The designer’s departure comes after four seasons at Calvin Klein Collection, the premium line relaunched under her direction in 2024.
Her appointment carried unusual weight. Calvin Klein had spent years without a regular runway presence after Raf Simons left in 2018 and the previous Collection structure was closed. Leoni, whose background includes The Row, Jil Sander, Moncler and Phoebe Philo’s Céline, was asked to give the label a credible fashion identity without losing the clean American codes that made Calvin Klein globally recognisable.
Her first collection, shown in February 2025, drew significant attention because it marked the brand’s return to New York Fashion Week. It also placed Leoni in a demanding position. Calvin Klein has a broad commercial business built on underwear, denim and celebrity campaigns, while Collection was intended to operate at a more exclusive level.
That made the line less about immediate sales volume and more about image, authority and design direction.
Critical response was mixed across her four seasons. Some observers felt the clothes became too complex for a house associated with restraint and 1990s minimalism. Others saw value in Leoni’s attempt to expand the brand rather than simply repeat familiar references. Her final collection, presented in September 2026, was generally viewed as more controlled and more closely aligned with Calvin Klein’s established identity.
There were visible successes. The brand secured red carpet placements on actors including Sarah Pidgeon and Britt Lower, while Leoni’s early shows generated strong media attention during New York Fashion Week. Those achievements gave Collection cultural visibility, but they did not clearly translate into wider commercial gains.
That gap matters. PVH reported a 7 percent year on year decline in Calvin Klein sales in its latest quarterly results. Collection was never expected to carry the company financially, yet a luxury tier still needs to strengthen the wider brand in a measurable way. During Leoni’s tenure, marketing support for Collection remained limited compared with Calvin Klein’s main campaigns.
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Timing may also have worked against the project. Leoni arrived when quiet luxury and minimalist dressing were already prominent across fashion. By the time her first pieces reached stores, that cycle had started to cool.
Calvin Klein also received renewed public attention through the television series “Love Story” and its link to Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, a former Calvin Klein publicist. Yet the brand did not fully connect that interest to Leoni’s Collection.
The company has made clear that the line will continue. Calvin Klein described Collection as an important part of its long term strategy and said new creative leadership will be announced in due course. That suggests the question is not whether the premium line should exist, but how its design direction, communication and commercial role should work together.
For Calvin Klein, the next appointment will need to answer something practical. Can the company create a high fashion proposition that feels current without losing the simplicity people already associate with its name? Veronica Leoni’s departure leaves that question unresolved.