{"id":155416,"date":"2026-03-06T16:50:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T16:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/155416\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T16:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T16:50:12","slug":"what-calvin-kleins-nyc-office-really-looked-like-back-then","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/155416\/","title":{"rendered":"What Calvin Klein\u2019s NYC Office Really Looked Like Back Then"},"content":{"rendered":"

Calvin Klein\u2019s minimalist fashion designs and the designer\u2019s New York City offices are drawing renewed attention thanks to Ryan Murphy\u2019s \u201cLove Story,\u201d a retelling of the 1990s modern-day Camelot romance of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. The show\u2019s nostalgic visuals prompted us to take a closer look at how accurately it portrays the timeline, especially Klein\u2019s showroom and studios located at 205 West 39th Street in New York\u2019s fashion district. Given WWD\u2019s extensive history with the designer and the brand \u2014 and its mention in episode five \u2014 it was easy to confirm just how accurate the scenes are.<\/p>\n

The modernist office, just off Seventh Avenue, was legendary long before the series. Calvin Klein<\/a> and his business partner Barry Schwartz moved into the space in the late 1970s, evolving the space central to Klein\u2019s vision for the brand.<\/p>\n

More from WWD<\/p>\n

\"Designer<\/p>\n

Designer Calvin Klein presents a look from his Fall 1980 Ready to Wear collection, in New York City. The model wears a tan worsted wool high-necked coat from the collection.<\/p>\n

By 1988, as Klein\u2019s meteoric rise was in full swing, Women\u2019s Wear Daily\u2019s editors interviewed him in those now infamous offices, noting the influence on his design aesthetic in the feature \u201cCalvin Klein: In the Midst of Change, a Certain Style.\u201d<\/p>\n

The offices, decorated similarly to his home, were both a reflection and inspiration for Klein\u2019s 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\u2019s culture.\u00a0In fact, many key moments between WWD and Klein, from haircut sessions to fashion previews and runway shows, were photographed there.<\/p>\n

\"Designer<\/p>\n

Designer Calvin Klein gets a haircut in his New York design studio and showroom.<\/p>\n

WWD likened the space to \u201ca comfortable living room, rich in neutral colors, with leather bound books and magazines\u2026wooden blinds drawn, giving the room a quiet ambience.\u201d A near-perfect setup for an ad placement. Even details like the sketches sprawled across Klein\u2019s desk are spot-on in Murphy\u2019s depiction of the timeline.<\/p>\n

\"Models<\/p>\n

Models Pat Cleveland and Karen Bjornson<\/p>\n

Klein\u2019s A-type obsession with detail \u2014 we did capture an in-office lunch moment, by the way \u2014 is exaggerated just enough in Murphy\u2019s version to spark the imagination of what actually went on behind the scenes at one of New York fashion\u2019s most iconic brands. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look inside 205 West 39th Street, captured by WWD and the Fairchild Archives.<\/p>\n

From the Archive: Inside Calvin Klein\u2019s Minimalist NYC Fashion Headquarters <\/a>\"Fashion<\/p>\n

Fashion designer Calvin Klein poses for a portrait circa January 1988.<\/p>\n

\"Calvin<\/p>\n

Calvin Klein and Barry Schwartz at the Calvin Klein design studio and showroom in New York City’s Garment District on January 14, 1975.<\/p>\n

\"Designer<\/p>\n

Designer Calvin Klein, along with models Janice Dickinson, Iman, and Beverly Johnson, prepares for his Fall 1977 Ready to Wear Runway show at 205 West 39th Street in New York City.<\/p>\n

View Gallery <\/a><\/p>\n

Best of WWD<\/p>\n

Sign up for WWD’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Calvin Klein\u2019s minimalist fashion designs and the designer\u2019s New York City offices are drawing renewed attention thanks to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155417,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[34627,64323,56401,21713,64324,9,24,56,63,65,64,13632],"class_list":["post-155416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-calvin-klein","tag-calvin-klein-collection","tag-carolyn-bessette-kennedy","tag-john-f-kennedy-jr","tag-minimalist-fashion","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-wwd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}