Grace Burns and Eve Hewson giggled, their eyes darting as a St. Barth’s baseball-capped gentleman passed them on the Calvin Klein embossed sisal carpet. The gentleman was none other than Benito, also known as Bad Bunny, casually slouching towards the front row at Calvin Klein. A scrum of photographers shifted their lenses from Calvin Klein himself towards the 30-year-old pop star. Then just before the lights dimmed, FKA Twigs and boyfriend, Jordan Hemingway scooched next to him on the bench. When the show began Bad Bunny watched poker-faced as former girlfriend Kendall Jenner strutted past, bespectacled and suited in look 3.
Until today, Calvin Klein, the brand, had left a gap in the New York Fashion Week schedule for almost seven years. Now, at the garment district headquarters of the brand, the whole world and their mother showed up to herald the American brand’s return under the new stewardship of creative director Veronica Leoni, the first woman to take the lead. (The last time Calvin Klein was on the schedule was with Raf Simons in September 2018.)
Speaking of everyone and their mother, the aforementioned Grace Burns is the daughter of Christy Turlington, with whom she arrived, both wearing straight-from-the runway looks. Turlington greeted another old-school Calvin face, Kate Moss herself, with an extended, shimmying hug before chatting with Mario Sorrenti and his wife, Mary Frey, and stylist Elizabeth Saltzman.
Actor Greta Lee also took her spot front row in floor-skimming, fog-colored satin, alongside Bridgerton star Simone Ashley, in a strapless deconstructed dress. (It was only once the show began that it became clear the front row ensembles were previews from the collection).
But it was Klein, flanked by Anna Wintour and his ex-wife Kelly, who garnered the most excitement from other attendees. Klein, who sold the company and retired in 2002, offered an endorsement of Leoni by watching the show from the front row (a rarity since his retirement).
After stints at Jil Sander, Phoebe Philo’s Céline, and The Row, Leoni joins Calvin—and her sensibilities that reflect the brand’s namesake. She leads with sensuality, restraint, and functionality. “For decades, Calvin Klein interpreted the idea of bold self-expression, and I am willing to empower it with a strong accent on style and creativity,” she said when first hired. As Brooke Shields’ famously said, “Nothing gets between me and my Calvins,” and today, on 39th Street, that seemed to Leoni’s sentiment as well.
