Calvin Richard Klein (/ˈkælvɪn ˈrɪtʃərd klaɪn/; born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry.
Klein is an American fashion designer of Hungarian Jewish ancestry. He was born to a Jewish family in The Bronx, New York, the son of Flore (née Stern) and Leo Klein. He went to Isobel Rooney Middle School 80 (M.S.80) as a child. His father was an immigrant from Hungary while his mother was the daughter of an immigrant from Austria and an American dentist. He attended the High School of Art and Design and matriculated at, but never graduated from, New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, receiving an honorary Doctorate in 2003. He did his apprenticeship in 1962 at an oldline cloak-and-suit manufacturer, Dan Millstein, and spent five years designing at other New York City shops. In 1968, he launched his first company with a childhood friend, Barry K. Schwartz.