Calvin Klein is an American classic – a brand that has and continues to define American style through meaningful collaborations. Early this year, the label tapped Heron Preston, American artist, creative and DJ to showcase his love for streetwear and imagination for Calvin Klein. Since launching his namesake brand in 2017, Preston has taken the fashion world by storm. Having collaborated with the likes of Virgil Abloh of Off-White and Louis Vuitton and Justin Saunders of JJJJound, he aims to keep fashion “easy, approachable and functional.”
In honor of this second partnership with Calvin Klein, Preston sat down with Vanity Fair to discuss the inspiration and design principles behind the line.
What inspired you to create this second collection with Calvin Klein?
I’ve been living in New York since 2004 so I really wanted to do a collection that captured the city. I spent most of the time during lockdown in the city so I got to really know it intimately and with Calvin Klein being a New York brand that definitely had an impact. This collection is easy, approachable, and functional – it’s made for everyone’s lifestyle.
Can you explain the evolution from the first collection to the second collection?
The first collection was really about setting the tone for what I wanted to do with Calvin Klein and required going into the archives and learning the fundamentals. I really built upon that in this collection and wanted to push it forward. We have seasons in New York so that allowed me to really bulk up with pieces and play with new silhouettes, fabrics, colors, and textures that we didn’t have the chance to explore with the first collection – while at the same time perfecting certain cross over styles from the last collection.
It is mentioned that this collection is an expression of our shared principles, do you find it important to have a wardrobe of essentials and go-to pieces?
Clothes are meant to be worn and to be easy. I found that building and perfecting those core essentials makes the wearer feel comfortable and allows them to go on with their day-to-day seamlessly. With this collection, you can mix and match however you like, layer it a ton of different ways and easily integrate it in your existing wardrobe. Calvin Klein already tells that story of expression through core essentials and I wanted to be part of that through my own lens. This is why you see my own special details like hints of orange tack stitching on t-shirt cuffs and hoodie sleeves to the orange box logo on the back of each garment.
You have given new life to traditional classics, how would you describe this re-designing and repurposing?
With this collection we really obsessed over the details and wanted to find the most perfect fit possible – it wasn’t about changing everything but more so having sustainable qualities designed into these pieces that allow it to be functional, practical, and elevated.
Tell us more about the sustainability elements and aspects behind the collection.
Sustainability is a big quality and is something that I consider across all of my designs so I wanted to push that idea as much as possible. We incorporated recycled plastic bottles into the denim, we have organic cottons and recycled nylon in the joggers – all done in a way that doesn’t sacrifice design and style. It was easier to implement more sustainable elements into the collection because CK had already been heading in this direction.
What was it like designing for an American heritage brand?
Calvin Klein is such an important American brand that defines how we look at classic wardrobing. I grew up looking at those iconic ads too, so to be able to go into the archive and feel those pieces and look at the imagery excited me. The partnership feels natural and started off with just expanding on those iconic CK pieces of underwear and the white shirt. It really goes beyond product design and placement for me, I really wanted to reshape and develop something new while respecting Calvin Klein’s history.
