Calvin Klein readies steady stream of rollouts

NEW YORK — Calvin Klein Home is preparing for the earliest fall rollout in its history, with waves of new product scheduled to flow into stores each month from June through September.

"This is at the request of retailers," chairman Rudy Schmatz told Home Textiles Today. "And in this market, we're placing more items than we've ever placed."

Line extensions, expansion into Europe and broadening placements within existing U.S. doors constitute the formula for growth for Calvin Klein Home, he said. The brand's new area rug program, produced under license by Nourison, began hitting at select department stores this month. Its new table linen program, produced under license by W-C designs, will begin shipping for fall placements. [See story, page 47.]

"We're very pleased with the acceptance of the rug program," said Calvin Klein Home senior vp Barbara Deichman. "In table linens we've created a good cross-section that ranges from core programs to holiday lines."

Internationally, this year Calvin Klein Home will add Switzerland, Spain and Greece to the European presence it has established over the past six months in London, Paris and Dublin, Ireland.

In the United States, the company hopes the combination of line extensions and design innovations in its core bed and bath program will give it a bigger footprint with existing customers.

"We're looking at how to make a B door an A door, how to make a C door a B," Schmatz said.

During the recently completed market, the company refreshed its approach to the towel category, creating patterned designs to complement its solid-color programs.

"Retailers told us solid colors have hit a stone wall over the last six to 12 months," Deichman said. "But jacquards are really generating excitement, especially when retailers show them together."

For the Collection bath line, Calvin Klein offers two new constructions, Satin Stripes and Shadow Leaves. Both feature jacquard construction, with Satin Stripes offered in plum, bog, charcoal and sage and Shadow Leaves in plum, bog, luminous and sage. Retail prices for the line start at $25 for a bath towel.

Utilizing a mix of textures combined with dramatic, upscale colors and its signature use of multiple layers, Calvin Klein unveiled its new beds for Collection and Khaki Collection.

The signature Collection line has been augmented by four new bedding ensembles: Wild Flower, Transparent Petals, Graphic Lines and Fragmented Pucker. Each uses its own unique combinations of color, such as campari and berry or smoke and amber.

The Wild Flower ensemble is adorned with photo-realistic flowers over an indigo background. The Jasper Stripe sheeting is offered in suede, as is the Double Row coordinate solid sheet. Two blankets, one a basketweave construction and the other an alpaca/wool blend, are offered, as are the Cotton Dash decorative throw and two styles of decorative pillows. A full/queen duvet cover will retail for $280, while the 50" x 70" cotton throw is $150.

Using a toned-down palette of amber, pale violet and various shades of gray is Transparent Petals, with its Amber Chambray cotton percale sheeting. A full/queen duvet cover retails for $280, while the 110" x 100" bedsheer is $250.

Graphic Lines features saturated tones of berry combined with bright orange lines that adorn across the top-of-bed. The fully engineered ensemble is complete with the Stitched Lines 100 percent cotton sheet collection and the Double Row solid percale coordinate sheets. A 100 percent cotton basketweave blanket, cotton yarn-dyed blanket, silk/cotton sham and cotton throw are all layered in. Retail price points start at $350 for a full/queen duvet cover and $90 for the queen flat sheets.

Unlike the other lines, Fragmented Pucker's look is completely tone-on-tone in shades of creamy white, stone, mushroom and resin. The fabrics for the top-of-bed is puckered, crinkled and stitched for a highly textured look. The striated sheeting is 100 percent cotton yarn dye in stone, while the solid coordinate sheet is offered in mushroom. A full/queen duvet cover will retail from $315 while the 50" x 70" Raffia Knit throw is offered at $190 retail.

Also new for the Collection line is a white goose down pillow, with a Calvin Klein logo print on the 230-count inner cotton shell, a 260-count windowpane cotton damask for the zip cover and the down-on-top feather bed with baffle channel construction. A standard/queen pillow retails at $125 and the feather bed at $230 for a full size.

For the Khaki Collection, the Amara and Moss Twill beds are new and follow the same infused, enriched color scheme as the Collection beds.

Amara, in 100 percent cotton percale, has a subtle texture and is finished in copper tones. A ribbed border quilt, textured plaid blanket and three decorative pillows complete the top-of-bed, while the Amara Stripe sheet, solid percale sheet in khaki and the Pebble Texture sheet complete the underbed. A full/queen duvet cover will retail from $215, while the quilt is offered at $215.

Moss Twill features a simplistic graphic design done in green-browns with accents of blue and yellow moss, scout, beige and creek blue. The top-of-bed is complemented with the same items from Amara, as is the underbed with the exception of the Lichen Plaid cotton sheet. Retail price points are also the same.

Rounding out the Khaki line is a decorative plaid comforter with 230-count cotton cover and down fill and the Khaki comforter in white, also with a 230-count cotton cover and 575 fill power down. The decorative plaid comforter is offered at $120 for a twin size, while the Khaki comforter hits retailers' shelves at $225 for a twin.