MOST PEOPLE WATCHING LOVE STORY: JFK JR. & CAROLYN BESSETTE, THE NEW TELEVISION SERIES BY RYAN MURPHY, ARE UNDERSTANDABLY ENTHRALLED BY CAROLYN BESSETTE AND JOHN F. KENNEDY JR.’S WARDROBES. THE 90S REVIVAL HAS EVERY GLOSSY COOING OVER THEIR STAR POWER, ESPECIALLY BESSETTE’S MINIMALIST LOOKS AND HER YEARS AT CALVIN KLEIN.
ME, I’VE BEEN HOOKED BY SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY: THE INTERIORS.
THE SETS RECREATING CALVIN KLEIN’S HEADQUARTERS AND THE COUPLE’S DOWNTOWN LOFT ARE IMMACULATE. THEY WERE BUILT BY PRODUCTION DESIGNER ALEX DIGERLANDO WITH SET DECORATOR LYDIA MARKS, WHO STUDIED ARCHIVAL PHOTOGRAPHS AND FOOTAGE TO RECREATE THE QUIET SEVERITY OF KLEIN’S WORLD IN THE 1990S. THE OFFICES, WITH THEIR INDUSTRIAL SHELVING, GLASS BRICK AND CHROME FURNITURE, ECHO THE REAL SPACES THAT DEFINED THE BRAND AT THE TIME.
WHEN MY BEST FRIEND PAUL SURRIDGE LEFT LONDON IN THE LATE 90S TO DESIGN FOR CALVIN KLEIN, IT WAS THE BRAND’S ABSOLUTE HEYDAY, AND I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO VISIT HIM THEN. I STILL REMEMBER WALKING INTO THE MADISON AVENUE FLAGSHIP. DESIGNED BY JOHN PAWSON, THE SPACE FELT ALMOST ECCLESIASTICAL. WHITEWASHED WALLS, FILTERED LIGHT AND A STRIPPED-BACK SHOP FIT CREATED AN ATMOSPHERE THAT WAS CLOSER TO A TEMPLE THAN A CLOTHING STORE. THE FURNISHINGS — BLACK TABLES AND PIECES REMINISCENT OF DONALD JUDD — FORMED A KIND OF SILENT ARCHITECTURE AROUND THE CLOTHES.
IT WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO LEAVE WITHOUT BUYING SOMETHING.
DOWNSTAIRS YOU WOULD FIND CALVIN KLEIN HOME. SUPERSOFT TOWELS, BEDDING, GLASSWARE AND CROCKERY — ALL RENDERED IN THE SAME MONOCHROME PALETTE THAT DEFINED THE BRAND. I REMEMBER BUYING COTTON BEDSHEETS IN ARMY GREEN AND BATHROOM TOWELS IN PALE GREY. I TOOK THEM BACK TO LONDON, FILLING MY SUITCASE WITH WHAT, AT THE TIME, FELT LIKE THE COOLEST OBJECTS IN AMERICA — THINGS YOU COULD REALLY ONLY FIND IN NEW YORK. THEY LASTED NEARLY A DECADE. I HAVE NO MEMORY OF EVER DISCARDING THEM; MOST LIKELY THEY DISAPPEARED SOMEWHERE DURING ONE OF MY INTERNATIONAL MOVES.
CALVIN KLEIN HAD A VISION AND AN AESTHETIC HE RARELY COMPROMISED. IT DEFINED AN ERA OF AMERICAN DESIGN. THE SPARSE DÉCOR WAS NEVER COLD; IT SIMPLY ALLOWED IDEAS TO BREATHE AND PLACED THE FOCUS SQUARELY ON THE PRODUCT. WHITE ORCHIDS ON BLACK TABLES. BLACK COFFEE CUPS — LATER WHITE ONES STAMPED WITH CK. EVERY DETAIL FELT CONSIDERED.
KLEIN REFINED THIS VISION OVER DECADES, DRAWING INSPIRATION FROM ARCHITECTS SUCH AS LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE, RICHARD NEUTRA, AND THE MINIMALIST INTERIORS OF JOE D'URSO, WHO DESIGNED SEVERAL OF THE COMPANY’S OFFICES IN THE 1990S.
HIS OWN INTERIORS EVOLVED ALONG SIMILAR LINES. IN THE 1970S THEY LEANED TOWARD MID-CENTURY MODERNISTS LIKE MARCEL BREUER AND POUL KJÆRHOLM. LATER CAME PIERRE JEANNERET CHAIRS, LINEN SLIPCOVERED SOFAS AND LIMEWASHED SURFACES. VINTAGE PIECES BY JEAN PROUVÉ AND LE CORBUSIER WOULD QUIETLY APPEAR.
DESPITE SHAPING ONE OF THE MOST RECOGNISABLE VISUAL LANGUAGES IN AMERICAN FASHION, KLEIN HAS ALWAYS BEEN REMARKABLY PRIVATE ABOUT HIS HOMES. EVEN THOUGH HE COLLABORATED WITH LEADING ARCHITECTS AND INTERIOR DESIGNERS — FROM JOHN PAWSON TO AXEL VERVOORDT, JOE D'URSO AND LORRAINE LETENDRE — HE RARELY ALLOWED THEM TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED AND LARGELY AVOIDED THE KIND OF GLOSSY EXPOSURE THAT WOULD NORMALLY ACCOMPANY SUCH SPACES.
WHICH MEANS THAT TODAY, MUCH OF WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT KLEIN’S INTERIORS SURVIVES ONLY IN FRAGMENTS: CONSTRUCTION IMAGES, ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE, OR THE OCCASIONAL GLIMPSE DURING AN EVENT.
PERHAPS THAT’S FITTING.
MINIMALISM WAS NEVER ABOUT SPECTACLE. IT WAS ABOUT RESTRAINT — AND THE QUIET CONFIDENCE OF LEAVING THINGS UNSAID.
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