Images: FRONT ROW – © 2017 Billy Farrell/Neil Rasmus. Ashton Sanders, Alex R. Hibbert, Naomie Harris
The show took place within an artwork by artist Sterling Ruby, which was completed at the invitation of Mr. Simons as part of his curatorial approach to the brand. Mr. Simons gave Mr. Ruby free reign to imagine a work appropriate for CALVIN KLEIN; Mr. Ruby imagined America.
Presented within the artwork is the debut ready-to-wear collection by Raf Simons for Calvin Klein. This collection was completed with the Creative Director of the brand, Pieter Mulier. Featuring women’s and menswear, Fall 2017 is itself an homage to America.
Images: RUNWAY LOOKS – © 2017 Giovanni Giannoni
“It reflects the environment,” says Mr. Simons. “All of these different people with different styles and dress codes. It’s the future, the past, Art Deco, the city, the American West…all of these things and none of these things. Not one era, not one thing, not one look. It is the coming together of different characters and different individuals, just like America itself. It is the unique beauty and emotion of America.”
In the collection, one material impacts another and one style impacts another — often in the same silhouette. Cohabiting, cross cultures of clothing find new forms: not the old, not the new, but the necessary. The collection is a celebration of this diversity.
With its mix of marching band uniforms, plastic coated protection, power broker tailoring, antique handcrafted quilting, workwear, and western wear, it is a unique kind of parade that is evoked. It is one that finds equal merit in folk and function, food court and courtroom, from the humdrum to sci-fi, the urban to the rural. It is a romantic and filmic outsiders’ eye view of the uniqueness of America.
Grace Coddington, Greta Gerwig, Tavi Gevinson
Raf Simons
Julianne Moore, Gwyneth Paltrow
Karlie Kloss
