Calvin Klein's first eponymous fragrance was introduced in 1978. It is sometimes referred to as “Calvin Klein Classic “, Calvin Klein Original and “Calvin Klein Red”, because of the red box it came in. Calvin Klein's first experience in perfumery was not as successful as with jeans. The first Calvin Klein women's perfume and the first Calvin Klein men's cologne were launched in 1978 and 1981, respectively. By then, he had already received three awards from American fashion critics, created iconic designer jeans and started CK Logomania.
However, this didn't help much in the perfumery business: both fragrances were eventually removed from the shelves. However, Calvin's men's cologne returned to the world market in October 1999, in a limited edition; it is said that it celebrates the millennium, but I didn't find any confirmation from the brand. Let me tell you about CK One. It was everywhere if you were everywhere, a world outlined by wannabe cool kids under 30.
When the fragrance was launched in 1994, it was defined by what it wasn't. It wasn't intoxicating, pretentious or French. CK One was American, sweetheart (although the perfumers behind the fragrance, Alberto Morillas and Harry Fremont, were Spanish and French, respectively). It didn't have a captivating scent but rather conveyed a sensation.
That feeling was carefree, uncomplicated, it was a membership card to a membership club after having felt like a freak for most of your life. The energy that dominated a generation in the 90s had faded and, just a few years later, Calvin Klein suspended the color line. Sharing his concept for the CK One campaign, filmed by Steven Meisel, Calvin Klein said it had its roots in the New York art community. And since Calvin Klein, as a brand, is no stranger to controversy, think of the jeans commercials of the eighties with a teenage Brooke Shields purring “nothing stands between me and my Calvins” or the images of topless underwear by Mark Wahlberg and Kate Moss in 1992, the print and television commercials for CK One attracted enormous attention and seduced everyone.
