Calvin Klein’s minimalist fashion designs and the designer’s New York City offices are drawing renewed attention thanks to Ryan Murphy’s “Love Story,” a retelling of the 1990s modern-day Camelot romance of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. The show’s nostalgic visuals prompted us to take a closer look at how accurately it portrays the timeline, especially Klein’s showroom and studios located at 205 West 39th Street in New York’s fashion district. Given WWD’s extensive history with the designer and the brand — and its mention in episode five — it was easy to confirm just how accurate the scenes are.
The modernist office, just off Seventh Avenue, was legendary long before the series. Calvin Klein and his business partner Barry Schwartz moved into the space in the late 1970s, evolving the space central to Klein’s vision for the brand.
Calvin Klein with model Tara Shannon in Calvin Klein fall 1980. WWD
John Bright/Fairchild Archive
By 1988, as Klein’s meteoric rise was in full swing, Women’s Wear Daily’s editors interviewed him in those now infamous offices, noting the influence on his design aesthetic in the feature “Calvin Klein: In the Midst of Change, a Certain Style.”
The offices, decorated similarly to his home, were both a reflection and inspiration for Klein’s famous jeans, Calvin Klein Collection, CK logo lines, beauty and home furnishings. That cozy black pillow-back couch along with the implied office uniforms worn by Klein and his employees, were integral to the brand’s culture. In fact, many key moments between WWD and Klein, from haircut sessions to fashion previews and runway shows, were photographed there.
Designer Calvin Klein gets a haircut in his New York design studio and showroom. Fairchild Archive
Dustin Pittman
WWD likened the space to “a comfortable living room, rich in neutral colors, with leather bound books and magazines…wooden blinds drawn, giving the room a quiet ambience.” A near-perfect setup for an ad placement. Even details like the sketches sprawled across Klein’s desk are spot-on in Murphy’s depiction of the timeline.
The Calvin Klein 1977 resort collection shot on location at his New York City showroom. Fairchild Archive
Lynn Karlin
Klein’s A-type obsession with detail — we did capture an in-office lunch moment, by the way — is exaggerated just enough in Murphy’s version to spark the imagination of what actually went on behind the scenes at one of New York fashion’s most iconic brands.
Here’s a look inside 205 West 39th Street, captured by WWD and the Fairchild Archives.
