Calvin Klein & Andy Warhol Join Forces

The partnership will also extend to various licensing categories and activations within the Calvin Klein brand portfolio.

NORTH AMERICA–Calvin Klein, a wholly owned subsidiary of PVH Corp., has inked a multi-year partnership with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, allowing the fashion brand unprecedented access to the late artist’s works.

The global partnership, which is effective through 2020, will see Calvin Klein support the foundation’s endowment from which it distributes grants for contemporary visual art. In turn, Calvin Klein will be able to utilize the artist’s entire portfolio, including many works that have not yet been published.

The first phase of the newly formed partnership was unveiled in September with the spring 2018 Calvin Klein 205W39NYC runway show. The collection, which will be available in January, incorporates a selection of Warhol artworks as placement screen prints including portraits of Warhol intimate and art collector Sandra Brant and movie star Dennis Hopper, as well as the pieces “Knives,” “Electric Chair” and “Ambulence Disaster.” The range also includes pieces created under license and in collaboration with Hopper Goods, a brand inspired by Dennis Hopper.

“Warhol’s legacy is not limited to the tremendous influence of his timeless concepts but also through the work of the foundation he established, which has become one of the pre-eminent funders of contemporary art having distributed over $275 million in grants since inception,” says Michael Dayton Hermann, director of licensing, Andy Warhol Foundation. “We are proud that Raf [Simon]’s visionary work at Calvin Klein will unabashedly embrace all facets of Warhol’s work and generously contribute to the foundation’s endowment.”

The partnership between Calvin Klein and the Andy Warhol Foundation is also expected to expand across various licensing categories and future activations within the Calvin Klein brand portfolio.

“I am proud that through this licensing agreement with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Calvin Klein will be continuing its longstanding commitment to the celebration of American artists and their prolific work,” says Steve Shiffman, chief executive officer, Calvin Klein. “I look forward to the global rollout of this partnership across multiple levels of the Calvin Klein consumer experience.”