Calvin Klein’s
Intriguing Normality
Anders Christian Madsen reviews the Calvin Klein Spring/Summer 2026 show.
When it comes to clothes, hitting the tension between easy and intriguing is an art form. Those are the garments we truly want to wear, at least most of the time: something that feels special but doesn’t require too much effort; something that’s attention-grabbing but not ridiculous. At Calvin Klein, Veronica Leoni nails that balance. After reviving the premium Collection line last season with a much-applauded debut, she returned with a sophomore show that confirmed just what a good match she is for the brand.
Presented through several floors of The Brant Foundation, the collection applied ideas of time and soul to the emblems of Calvin Klein. Minimalist dresses and coats looked crumbled up and lived-in, workwear was aged and worn, and some silhouettes were voluminous as if borrowed from someone that wasn’t your size. Every garment felt like it had a story to tell. It was intriguing in spirit, but it never felt complicated.
“I spent a year and discovered that, actually, Calvin belongs to the people more than it belongs to me,” Leoni said after the show. She spoke about “the need to magnify normality and try to bring it to the next level, and trying to filter the rawest sense of beauty.” Working on the collection, she had been observing people in the street, “when they go for a run, or when they’re on their way home from the night before.” You could tell from the clothes that she has a vivid imagination.
In some looks, Leoni lionized the spontaneity that comes with everyday dressing: the way we throw things on or instinctively repurpose one garment into another, like a dressing gown worn as a coat or top rolled into a glamorous bandeau. Then, there were the memories of the night before the morning after: whispers of eveningwear creased and imbued with stories; underwear and sexy lingerie elements reduced and transformed into daywear. A cocktail dress was spun from hundreds of Calvin Klein’s elastic underwear bands.
Working on the collection, she had been observing people in the street, ‘when they go for a run, or when they’re on their way home from the night before.’ You could tell from the clothes that she has a vivid imagination.
“I had a fascination with Dynasty when I was a kid, with my mum, and I feel like that glamour was an American fantasy. It was an act of building the transatlantic DNA we’re trying to build here,” Leoni said. Along with cheerleader pompoms and other Americana, the idea gave a dressed-up and eccentric sensibility to the normality she had been studying, creating the kind of intrigue that characterised the collection.
Leoni captured the same feeling in an entrancing soundtrack by Kid Harpoon that mixed the faint “la-la-la” of Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You Out of My Head with a mystery voice whispering “Calvin…” Like the clothes, it was composed of familiar elements but reworked to activate all your senses and make you want more. You couldn’t get it out of your head.
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