Calvin Klein Women marks first fragrance from Raf Simons for the fashion house
Calvin Klein, a wholly owned subsidiary of PVH Corp, and Calvin Klein Fragrances, a division of Coty, revealed the worldwide print advertising campaign for the new fragrance Calvin Klein Women, the first fragrance from the brand to be developed under the vision of Chief Creative Officer, Raf Simons.
The campaign features Lupita Nyong’o and Saoirse Ronan. Award-winning actors and voices of their generation, both women are universally recognised for their unique talent, creativity, intelligence and strength of character.
Directed by artist Anne Collier with creative direction from Lloyd & Co, the campaign champions iconic women and celebrates heroines of contemporary culture.
Lupita and Saoirse are featured in the print campaign, in a pair of striking and direct portraits, positioned next to chosen figures from the past who have inspired them – icons of femininity that have shaped their identities, as creatives, and as women.
Lupita is featured next to singer and multi-dimensional performer Eartha Kitt and celebrated American actress Katharine Hepburn, and Saoirse is featured with award-winning actor Sissy Spacek and award-winning singer and civil rights activist Nina Simone.
“With this fragrance, we wanted to put the concept of plurality centre stage. The campaign is an exploration of femininity – a group of women bonded by a common thread; the desire to have the power to create their own identity, and to support and lead the way for those that come after them,” said Raf Simons, Chief Creative Officer, Calvin Klein.
“Calvin Klein Women is inspired by the transmission of strength and inspiration from one woman to the next; by plurality combined with individuality; freedom of expression; and the notion that the collective is as vital as the individual.”
Lupita and Saoirse will also be featured in the the brand’s television campaign, directed by Anne Collier in New York City, and debuting worldwide later this summer.
The brand’s fragrance is a play of contrasts, as infinitely varied as the personas of the women who inspire it. A woody floral, it fuses strength with fragility, freshness with sensuality. The light pink-hued fragrance builds around three core ingredients – fresh eucalyptus acorns, delicate orange flower petals and rich Alaskan cedarwood.
The flacon blurs the boundaries between art and fashion, fusing quotes from the visual language of contemporary photography with age-old notions of the feminine. It is redolent of a timeless femininity, with an ergonomically rounded shape in weighted glass and silver collar and pump, drawing on traditional fragrance archetypes.
It simultaneously disrupts aesthetic codes and respects traditions – the graphic, oversized disc-shaped cap designed in collaboration with Raf Simons, a canvas for a photographic print by Anne Collier.
Starting today, the brand is asking “Who are your women?” By using #IAMWOMEN, women around the world can pay homage to the females in their lives, who helped make them the individuals they are today by simply sharing a picture of those that inspired them. Photos can also be shared on the brand’s website.
