Calvin Klein clothing (Calvin Klein was born on November 19, 1942) is a well-known American fashion designer. His name is a brand name of clothing marketed by his company, which was launched in 1968. In addition to clothing, Calvin Klein also gave his name to a range of perfumes, including CK One and CK Be (fragrances for both genders), now owned by Coty Inc. Swatch Group manufactures watches and jewelry under the Calvin Klein and Calvin Klein Jeans brands. In the late 1990s the company opened elegant Calvin Klein Collection stores in Paris, Seoul, and Taipei and ultra-fancy cK Calvin Klein stores in Hong Kong, Milan and Kuwait City. As of today, there is only one Calvin Klein Collection store operated by CKI. It is located in New York City. The Calvin Klein stores in Milan, Moscow, Barcelona, Rome, Dubai (two locations), Seoul, Singapore and Taipei are maintained by partners. Out of the two Calvin Klein Collection stores that existed in the US, the Dallas location in Highland Park Village which had been open for 20 years was closed in mid-2005. The only international location, in Paris, was closed by PVH in March 2006. The New York store, which serves as the company's flagship store at 654 Madison Ave., remains open till today. The sportswear and cK lines are mainly sold through North American department stores and in Europe through some high-end retail stores. In Europe, Calvin Klein is predominantly known for his underwear, and perhaps the Collection business, rather than for the medium-priced sportswear lines. In Asia, there are also signature cK stores that only carry the cK sportswear line. The Warnaco Group, in addition, maintains Calvin Klein Jeans and corresponding outlet stores. Apart from signature Calvin Klein Underwear boutiques, there are also several Calvin Klein Outlet stores, mostly located within factory outlet malls in the US, that sell the sportswear and cK lines at reduced prices but do not carry the Collection lines. With the fall 2006 Collection runway presentations in New York City, CKI inaugurated an 8,600 sqft show room space that can seat up to 600 people on the ground floor of 205 West 39th Street, in Times Square South where Calvin Klein has been headquartered since 1978. Their current office space in the building is about 143,000 sqft with lease costs probably figuring at around $30 per sq in that area. In 2006 two Calvin Klein Jeans boutiques opened in Cairo and Alexandria Egypt, selling only Calvin Klein Jeans. Also in 2006, Calvin Klein opened three boutiques (including a store selling only underwear) in Istanbul/Turkey. Besides the aforementioned specialised/dedicated Calvin Klein stores, the brand is widely available across globe. Notable retailers in the UK offering Calvin Klein include stores such as John Lewis Partnership, Debenhams and KJ Beckett. Likewise in the US, collections are available in department stores including Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, and Neiman Marcus as well as many small independent stores. Calvin Klein collections are also found online with particular internet focus on selling Calvin Klein underwear and fragrances.

Ralph Lauren was born in the New York City borough of The Bronx to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants Fraydl (Kotlar) and Frank Lifshitz, his father was a house painter. There are many parallels with Robert Denning, the interior designer. Both grew up without fashion, but went on to create for others an environment of society, old money and country-club style. Although neither had any exposure to this world as a child, each was able to visualize and create his dream. For Lauren this look would eventually become Polo Ralph Lauren. From a very young age, he started working after school to earn money to buy stylish, expensive suits with an early preference for quality over quantity. His attire soon gave him a trendy reputation among his peers. The well-known Calvin Klein, a younger contemporary also lived in the same Bronx neighborhood. Lauren graduated in 1957 from the DeWitt Clinton High School, at which time it was an all-boys' school. In his high school yearbook, he stated under his picture that he wanted to be a millionaire. Others who attended this school include Burt Lancaster, Robert Klein, Stan Lee, and Colin Powell. At age 16, Ralph's brother Jerry changed their last name from Lifshitz to Lauren (his brother Lenny remained a Lifshitz for many years). He went to the Baruch College where he studied Business and dropped out after two years. From 1962 to 1964, he served in the United States Army. After his discharge, in 1968, he married Ricky Low-Beer. He did not attend fashion school, but worked for Brooks Brothers as a salesman and then created the label Polo, a necktie business. He later purchased this name from his initial backer, Norman Hilton. Lauren's fashion empire has since grown into a billion-dollar business. In 1984 he recreated the Rhinelander Mansion, a former home of the photographer Edgar de Evia and Robert Denning, into the flagship store for Polo Ralph Lauren. This same year de Evia photographed the Lauren home at Round Hill in Jamaica for House & Garden. In the middle of the 1990s, Polo Ralph Lauren became a public company, traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol RL. Ralph and his wife, Ricky, have two sons and a daughter: Andrew, David, and Dylan. David is an executive at Polo Ralph Lauren. Dylan owns and operates an upscale candy store, Dylan's Candy Bar, at 59th Street and Third Avenue in Manhattan. Ricky appeared on the television show Martha on December 6th, 2006 and stated that her son Andrew is in the "movie business". Lauren is the subject of several biographies (written by Jeffrey Trachtenberg, Michael Gross and Colin MacDowell). Lauren is also well-known as a collector of classic automobiles. His cars have won best in show at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance multiple times. His collection was recently displayed at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts