Kevin Carrigan, the creative director of CK Calvin Klein and CK jeans, looked perfectly at home in a trim gray suit, standing against a monolithic plywood structure erected in the center of the Calvin Klein showroom’s stark, white interior, which he had specially constructed. The fresh, polished faces of models, in an assortment of indigo denim, tweed pants and jackets, navy coats and performance wear, were arranged on three stepped levels, as though plopped down onto an unfinished mock-pyramid for a movie about teenage tourists visiting ancient Mayan ruins.
This was the setting for the CK Calvin Klein Fall 2008 presentation on Friday morning, March 28, and given the longstanding association with Calvin Klein and minimalism, it made sense that the set was inspired by the sculptures of minimalist artist Donald Judd.
“It makes you look at clothes in a different way,” said Carrigan about this imposing architectural form in the center of the room. “And Calvin has always been interested in his work. We have Donald Judd furniture in our stores.”
By playing with the proportion and scale of the presentation itself, Carrigan brought the notion of form in fashion to the forefront: The way clothes and people make statements in space through shape. Carrigan characterized the Fall 2008 offerings as “sculptural,” “architectural,” and “structural,”and he opted for strong silhouettes and flat surfaces in matte and opaque fabrics such as felt, cashmere and alpaca. The result of using compactly woven fabrics such as felt is that the clothes are decidedly form-driven, the collection effortlessly achieving silhouettes like an upright funnel neck collar while still managing to look streamlined and light.
“And no shimmer,” said Carrigan, who moved away from the metallics that have dominated past seasons, instead opting for rich solid colors like midnight blue and always smart-looking tweeds.
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