Calvin Klein

Calvin Klein is an American fashion house founded in 1968 in New York City by the designer Calvin Klein and his business partner Barry K. Schwartz [3]. The company built its reputation through jeans and underwear in the 1970s and 1980s, but within the beauty market it is known for its fragrances, a line that has run continuously since 1980. Those scents are no longer made by the fashion house itself: since 2005 the fragrance business has been licensed to the cosmetics group Coty, which develops and sells new releases under the Calvin Klein and CK names [4].

The brand remains active. Coty introduced a new fragrance collection, euphoria elixirs, in early 2026 with a campaign fronted by the musician ROSALÍA, alongside a release titled CK One Night Essence [6].

Calvin Klein studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York before starting his own label in the late 1960s [4]. He founded the company in 1968 together with Barry K. Schwartz. The designer himself drew early recognition: in 1973 he received the Coty American Fashion Critics' Award, the youngest recipient at that time, and won again in the two following years [3]. The label became widely visible through its jeans and underwear lines before it moved into perfume.

The first Calvin Klein scent, simply named Calvin, arrived in 1980. The line's first major success came in 1985 with Obsession, followed by Eternity in 1988 and Eternity for Men the next year. In 1994 the company released CK One, which Now Smell This describes as "the now iconic unisex fragrance" [4] — one of the first scents openly marketed as suitable for any gender, and a product often credited with helping the unisex category gain acceptance. CK Be appeared in 1996, and Euphoria followed in 2005.

There is some inconsistency across sources over CK One's date. Fragrance references place the perfume's launch in 1994 [4], while Wikipedia records a 2011 date; the latter refers to a CK One lifestyle and apparel sub-brand rather than the fragrance itself [3]. The 1994 date applies to the scent.

The apparel house was sold to Phillips-Van Heusen, now PVH Corp., in 2003 [4]. The fragrance side followed a separate path. Until 2005 the perfumes were handled by Calvin Klein Cosmetics Company, a subsidiary of Unilever; in May 2005 Coty bought the fragrance licensing agreements from Unilever [3]. Coty has held the licence since, and lists Calvin Klein within its prestige fragrance portfolio [2]. Through Coty, the brand sits alongside sister fragrance labels including BOSS, Burberry, Davidoff and Chloé-era houses such as Escada and JOOP!.

Coty positions the fragrance line as a "masspirational love brand inspired by sensual self-expression and connection to the world," describing it as universal and as a minimalist canvas for creative expression [2]. The licensee also frames the range as accessible and sustainable premium fragrance. On its own storefront the brand uses the tagline "Feel yourself, every day."

In 2010 the Fragrance Foundation inducted Calvin Klein into its Fragrance Hall of Fame [5]. Recent fragrance campaigns have been built around well-known names: the musician ROSALÍA fronts the 2026 euphoria elixirs launch [6], and the brand has featured a collaboration with the performer Jung Kook.

Calvin Klein is an active global brand. Its fragrance line is in continuous production under Coty's licence, with new launches in 2026 including the euphoria elixirs collection and CK One Night Essence [6].