Calvin Klein’s new WOMEN is coming to duty-free

The first CALVIN KLEIN fragrance developed under the vision of Chief Creative Officer, Raf Simons comes to duty-free in September.

WOMEN denotes not one, but many – a group of individuals, each with their own distinct voice, their own unique self. CALVIN KLEIN draws inspiration from the multifaceted identity of femininity today – from the empowered reality of modern women and their myriad interpretations – to invent a new scent, the first CALVIN KLEIN fragrance developed under the vision of Chief Creative Officer, Raf Simons: CALVIN KLEIN WOMEN.

A woman curates herself, and draws from many, to transform. CALVIN KLEIN WOMEN is inspired by this inherent diversity; by plurality combined with individuality; by freedom, by the notion of resisting definition and living by no one else’s rules but your own. By the collective individuality that unites all women.

The message of CALVIN KLEIN WOMEN speaks to many. It speaks to women universally, a scent evocative of the multiple identities they present. Women have more than one persona within them, with the inherent freedom to reinvent themselves as and when they see fit. They are both one, and all – an individual who becomes part of a group. The legacy of creativity at the house of CALVIN KLEIN is to not only reflect culture, but to help define it. CALVIN KLEIN WOMEN reflects a dynamic and multifaceted femininity which mirrors the creative spirit of Raf Simons and a new era at CALVIN KLEIN.

Developed with an all-female cast, the CALVIN KLEIN WOMEN campaign champions iconic women of past generations and celebrates heroines of contemporary culture.

#IAMWOMEN

THE CAMPAIGN: A CELEBRATION OF WOMEN, BY WOMEN

“In approaching the campaign for CALVIN KLEIN WOMEN I was curious to see if it was possible to create a different kind of image: an image that was both confident and empathetic, where the female subjects could articulate and project their own identities.” – Anne Collier

Created in partnership by Lloyd & Co. and artist Anne Collier, whose distinct and immediately recognizable photographic artwork also features on both the packaging and the radical flacon design, the CALVIN KLEIN WOMEN campaign stars two women helping to shape a profound new Hollywood landscape: LUPITA NYONG’O and SAOIRSE RONAN.

Award-winning actors and voices of their generation, both women are universally recognized for their unique talent, creativity, intelligence and strength of character. They are aspirational figures and inspirations to women around the world. Both Nyong’o and Ronan feature in the CALVIN KLEIN WOMEN campaign in a pair of striking and direct portraits by Collier, simultaneously challenging and inviting the observer into the CALVIN KLEIN universe.

In turn, these inspiring women have chosen figures from the past who have inspired them – icons of femininity that have shaped their identities, as creatives, and as women.

In reflection of Collier’s oeuvre, which creates arresting juxtapositions that explore the interrelationships and implied narratives between images, the campaign presents a triptych image of these actors juxtaposed with iconic female figures chosen by Nyong’o and Ronan themselves as women who have inspired and influenced them.

LUPITA NYONG’O: “It takes more than one person to make an individual.”

SAOIRSE RONAN: “You can be any type of woman you want to be.”

LUPITA NYONG’O’S ICONIC WOMEN: EARTHA KITT AND ACTRESS KATHARINE HEPBURN

“Eartha Kitt and Katharine Hepburn are examples of people who didn’t accept the status quo; they made room for themselves. I am drawn to their integrity, and their ability to speak up and speak
out for what they believe in, to change the course of history. I admire their fierce artistic points
of view and that they did not betray themselves. I aspire to be similarly authentic and full of integrity.”
– Lupita Nyong’o

SAOIRSE RONAN’S ICONIC WOMEN: SISSY SPACEK AND NINA SIMONE

“Sissy Spacek has this openness to her, this presence. She seems to have a willingness to try anything and go anywhere. She was free – and a pioneer. Nina Simone was able to shape the music industry and herself, make it into what she needed it to be. What it boils down to is – does somebody else’s work affect you? Does it strike a chord? Seeing people doing something that they’re passionate about is inspiring. It encourages you to do the same, to feel the same.” – Saoirse Ronan

FRAGRANCE DETAILS

A woody floral
TOP: eucalyptus acorns
MID: orange flower
DRY: alaskan cedarwood
Devised by perfumers Annick Menardo and Honorine Blanc, CALVIN KLEIN WOMEN is a play of contrasts, as infinitely varied as the personas of the women who inspire it.
Fusing strength with fragility, freshness with sensuality, the light pink-hued fragrance builds around three core ingredients – delicate orange flower petals, fresh eucalyptus acorns, and a rich Alaskan cedarwood, combined with black pepper and lemon Sfuma, a bouquet of Magnolia Grandiflora and Jasmine Absolute, and the seductive strength of Olibanum essential oil and Ambrox® Super.
Evoking the ethos of CALVIN KLEIN WOMAN, each ingredient is respected and celebrated – the individual is as vital as the collective, and neither can exist without the other, combined to create an unexpected and unique woody floral – a contradiction in terms. In this fragrance, dynamic and modern, the wearer discovers an innate duality, a constant tension between differing elements, and a marriage of opposites. It represents an olfactory portrait of the multi-layered idea of femininity today.

THE BOTTLE

A hybrid, occupying multiple worlds at once, the CALVIN KLEIN WOMEN bottle and packaging express the creative identity of Raf Simons’ CALVIN KLEIN. Simons’ work consistently transgresses the boundaries between the universes of art and fashion; here, the language of classical perfumery is added. Created by Suzanne Dalton in collaboration with Anne Collier, the scent flacon is redolent of a timeless femininity, with an ergonomically rounded shape in weighted glass and silver collar and pump, drawing on traditional fragrance archetypes. Simultaneously exploring and disrupting aesthetic codes, respecting traditions and free to challenge them, the bottle juxtaposes those references to the past with a new twist – a graphic, oversized disc-shaped cap, a canvas for a photographic print by Anne Collier. Recreating the container as an objet d’art, this perfume bottle blurs the boundaries between art and fashion, fusing quotes from the visual language of contemporary photography with age-old notions of the feminine. It refuses to conform. In doing so, it continues a tradition of rule-breaking and transgression synonymous with CALVIN KLEIN.

THE ARTWORK

The artwork featured on both the bottle and packaging for CALVIN KLEIN WOMEN was created by the artist Anne Collier – a female eye, looking outwards to the world. It is transformed in various incarnations, a counterpoint to Raf Simons’ fascination with contemporary art, his transposing of works by figures such as Andy Warhol onto clothing designs. Here, Collier’s work is framed either by the circular shape of the bottle stopper – where it becomes an art object in itself – or the white packaging of the perfume itself, functioning like an unconventional gallery wall in miniature. In her work, Collier considers the acts of both looking and being looked at. Her work reflects upon what it means to be a woman and how women have been portrayed in art, advertising and the media. The eye is a recurring motif in Collier’s work and closely related to the mechanisms of the camera. For Collier the eye is a threshold between our inner and external lives, between our desires and our everyday realities.

BIOGRAPHIES

LUPITA NYONG’O

Lupita Nyong’o made her feature film debut in Steve McQueen’s acclaimed 2013 movie “12 Years a Slave.” She received the Academy Award® for Best Supporting Actress for her role, alongside multiple accolades including the Screen Actors Guild Award®, the Critics’ Choice Award, the NAACP Image Award and the Independent Spirit Award. She starred in J.J. Abrams’ “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (2015), and this year featured as Nakia in Marvel’s record-breaking “Black Panther.” Upcoming, Nyong’o will produce and star in “Born a Crime,” the biopic based on Trevor Noah’s bestselling book of the same name; she will also produce and star in the miniseries adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel “Americanah.” She will also star opposite Viola Davis in TriStar Pictures’ “The Woman King,” as well as in the Australian zombie comedy-horror crossover “Little Monsters” opposite Josh Gad. In 2009, Nyong’o served as creator, director, editor and producer of the award-winning feature-length documentary “In My Genes,” exploring the marginalisation and stigmatisation of the genetic condition albinism. In 2019, Simon & Schuster Books will publish “Sulwe,” Nyongo’s debut children’s book tackling the issue of colorism, or the preferential treatment of those with lighter skin. Nyong’o combines acting with activism and humanitarian causes.

SAOIRSE RONAN

A Golden Globe® winner and three-time Academy Award® nominee, Saoirse Ronan featured in her first film aged just 13 – a critically-acclaimed turn in “Atonement” (2007), garnering her first Oscar® nomination. Her position as one of the defining talents of her era was cemented with her role in John Crowley’s “Brooklyn” (2015), and her starring turn in Greta Gerwig’s “Ladybird” (2017), focused on the experience of a young woman on the brink of independence. Upcoming she will be seen in the movie adaptation of Ian McEwan’s “On Chesil Beach,” Chekov’s “The Seagull,” and the title role in the biopic “Mary Queen of Scots,” all due for release in 2018. It is Ronan’s intensity and remarkable ability to bring a sense of truth and reality to her embodiment of these wildly divergent characters that has marked her out as a leading light in Hollywood.

ANNE COLLIER

Over the past fifteen years the artist Anne Collier has developed a highly-focused body of work that considers the formal intersections and psychological entanglements of photography, material culture, and the self-help industries. Her work was most recently the subject of a solo exhibition at Anton Kern Gallery, New York (2018); and a survey exhibition at FRAC Normandie, Rouen, France (2018). She was the subject of a major traveling survey exhibition organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2014), and her work will be the subject of a solo exhibition at the Sprengel Museum, Hanover, in fall 2018, that will travel to the Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland. Collier’s work is featured in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York), the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York), the Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), the Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris), and Tate (London), among others.

EARTHA KITT

Once labeled “the most exciting woman in the world” by Orson Welles, Eartha Kitt was a true modern legend. Ms. Kitt was known for her highly distinctive singing voice, her iconic purr, and she was one of show business’ most compelling multi-dimensional performers. She was a trailblazer in the entertainment industry and a fearless role model for being true to oneself and embracing WHO YOU ARE.

KATHARINE HEPBURN

Katharine Hepburn was a celebrated American actress and female icon. During her film career, Hepburn was awarded four Academy Awards® for Best Actress and has been named by the American Film Institute as the greatest female star of Classic Hollywood Cinema.

SISSY SPACEK

Sissy Spacek is one of the industry’s most respected actresses best known for playing the title role in Brian De Palma’s “Carrie,” based on the Stephen King novel, as well as for her roles in “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” “In the Bedroom,” and the upcoming Fox Searchlight release “The Old Man and The Gun.” Her many honors include an Academy Award®, three Golden Globe Awards®, a Screen Actors Guild Award®, five additional Academy Award® nominations, three Primetime Emmy® Award nominations, and a Grammy Award® nomination.

NINA SIMONE

A piano prodigy at 3, a Juilliard student at 17, transformed into Nina Simone at 25 with her first hit record, “I Loves You Porgy,” a career that spanned 45 years, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award®, a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, she was called the “High Priestess of Soul” and is remembered for her extraordinary and diverse body of recordings and her tireless civil rights activism. She was an independent woman, a voice for the marginalized on a world stage, whose timeless performances are sampled in hundreds of new recordings by some of the most prominent artists in the world.

#IAMWOMEN