Raf Simons won't debut his first collection for Calvin Klein until next February, but Emanuel Chirico—the chairman and CEO of PVH Corp., the company that owns the label—is already laying out great expectations for his new hire.
"For the first time since we have owned the business we have gotten one clear strategic direction for the brand," Chirico said on a call with Wall Street, according to WWD. "You can’t underestimate what that will mean to us from a brand point of view moving forward."
This aspect of the hire has been touted the most since even before Raf joining Calvin was official. Several weeks before the hire was announced, the label's founder said he was relieved he would finally be replaced properly. "Someone who can with a singular vision oversee everything that is creative," Calvin Klein said in June. When Calvin Klein's respective men's and women's designers were dismissed, the New York Times' Vanessa Friedman reported the label would unite under one vision.
Chirico believes this newfound unity will benefit Calvin Klein enormously. "We have a cohesive view of the brand and the product and being able to really take advantage of the collection business to diffuse it down to our white label and bridge lines," he said. "I think it will be a huge benefit for us as we go forward."
But beyond just making Trump-like pronouncements without details to back it up, Chirico also explained how the new Calvin will be different. "As we move in 2017 and beyond, you’ll see more lifestyle marketing of the brand that will capture and take advantage of all the product category as where we think there is significant growth," he said. CK's current advertising spends an oversized amount of its marketing dollars on pushing jeans and underwear. Chirico also gets into the nitty-gritty of selling its clothing at stores in tourist hubs versus online. You can read more details here.
