I found myself in a deep Calvin Klein archive rabbit hole after attending the SCAD style talk with Veronica Leoni, Calvin Klein Collection’s current creative director. Calvin Klein has always been one of the leading houses in minimalist, sleek fashion. Leoni has notably always been a minimalistic designer. She has worked under Raf Simons at Jil Sander, for Céline under Phoebe Philo, she brought womenswear to Moncler in 1952, and refined her tailoring at The Row. Throughout her talk, what stood out the most was her emphasis on storytelling for her design process. This immediately caught my attention and raised a lot of questions. How much more difficult is it to design minimalism? Is it even possible to successfully portray a narrative through minimalistic design? And is Calvin Klein doing it right?
Minimalist designs have to be as effective in portraying a story as big, bright, colorful designs, and Calvin Klein has never been known for fun colors and silhouettes. The label focuses on luxury fabrics, simplistic designs, simple silhouettes, and minimal colors. Understanding that each creative director will bring a new and fresh perspective is important, but maintaining house codes so that the brand seems cohesive seems essential as well. Before Veronica, aesthetics seemed to be the label’s biggest focus: maintaining a cohesive brand that appealed to a high-end public. Calvin Klein has always been keen on selling an ideal, unique, luxurious lifestyle. Now, however, the brand seems to be deviating. Leoni has introduced new textures, silhouettes, and colors to support her love for storytelling, which leads to my next question…has Veronica’s love for storytelling compromised the brand identity? Their Spring 2026 ready-to-wear collection does not look like the Calvin Klein it was before; silhouettes seemed less refined, fabrics seemed more experimental, and the color story is all over the place. This does not mean that I don’t believe designing minimalism whilst having a story is possible. Her Fall 2025 ready-to-wear collection is a perfect example of successfully telling a narrative while still respecting the house codes. The silhouettes were experimental but clean cut, there was a cohesive color story, and fabrics felt nuanced but still luxurious.
I truly believe it is harder to design minimalism, especially for a brand as established as Calvin Klein. Playing with new technologies, especially when it comes to textile development, could be a way to modernize a collection and establish a storyline without deviating too far from the house’s core values. Playing with garment construction could also lead to interesting results without the need to push silhouettes and use color. Understanding how much to push house codes to communicate narrative is a tricky line, and I think that Veronica Leoni is on the right path, but hasn’t quite understood it yet.
Words & Graphics by Ariana Sancho