Veronica Leoni made her much-anticipated Calvin Klein Collection debut at 205 West 39th Street last season, heralding the label’s return to the runway after six years, with the octogenarian founder himself in attendance. For her sophomore follow-up on September 12, she moved the spring 2026 show downtown, to the Brant Foundation in the East Village. That 33-block separation from an address so closely associated with Calvin Klein—one that her predecessor, Raf Simons, even added to the label’s name—seemed to give her the critical distance needed to reflect on what this iconic American brand means today. Or, as the show notes put it rather philosophically, to explore “Calvin Klein-ism as a way of being rather than just appearing.”
The lineup was brimming with ideas that squared the circle between contemporary minimalism’s oversize volumes and the sleek, sensual iteration that defined Calvin Klein in its 1990s heyday. The opening look, a pure white backless apron dress, carried the frisson of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy stepping out in a silk slip back in the day. Caftan evening dresses and sweeping ankle-length trench coats had a more recent analog, recalling the 2010s fashion nun elegance of Phoebe Philo’s Céline and The Row, Leoni’s alma maters. Leoni also revisited the pencil skirt suits from her debut collection. This time, the collarless jackets were subtly nipped at the waist and scooped low to reveal a flash of lacy lingerie, nodding to the wider world of Calvin Klein, which for many people begins with underwear.
From Kate Moss and Marky Mark to Jeremy Allen White, Calvin Klein Underwear ads are woven into the fabric of pop culture. Logo-waistband details offered a cheeky nod to this sexy iconography, from tighty-whities visible under sheer white leggings to a tweed dress spliced with elastic panels and even the strap on a pair of sport sunglasses. At a time when exposed boxers and panties-as-pants are ubiquitous on runways, these subtler interpretations were a welcome twist. Overall there was a new sense of utilitarian ease and understated sensuality to Leoni’s collection, which highlighted workwear-inspired coveralls, jean jackets, and some excellent wide-leg denim that whispered of Brooke Shields’s famous line about the space between her and her Calvins.
