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Calvin Klein hasn’t owned Calvin Klein for decades, but the most Calvin Klein-y part of Calvin Klein — the clingy white boxer briefs that Marky Mark once donned on billboards over Times Square — is suddenly back in fashion. Thanks to Love Story, the Ryan Murphy-produced JFK Jr.-Carolyn Bessette miniseriesthat reimagined the iconic designer as a supporting character in America’s most photogenic doomed romance, Calvin Klein undies once again are flying off shelves.
PVH Corp., the company that bought the Calvin Klein brand in 2003, isn’t releasing exact figures, but during an earnings call, CEO Stefan Larsson couldn’t stop gushing about how sales of skivvies had surged since the limited series began streaming on Hulu in February. “We can’t talk about Calvin Klein today without talking about Love Story the TV show,” he told analysts. “When the show launched, we could see the search increase for Calvin Klein. … The consumer is looking for iconic Calvin, starting with iconic underwear.”
But here’s where the underpants start bunching up: It turns out that Klein, now 83, apparently wanted nothing to do with Love Story, in which he’s portrayed by Alessandro Nivola as Bessette’s exacting boss and the accidental cupid who introduced her to John — and, later, became Bessette’s jilted mentor. Sources close to Klein tell Rambling that he thought the idea of a John-Carolyn TV saga was tacky and tasteless and turned away Murphy’s offers to participate.
