Is Anne Klein Related to Calvin Klein?
The fashion world is full of intriguing irony. And to many people, no irony is more fascinating than the fact that Anne and Calvin Klein share a last name.
Is Anne Klein Related to Calvin Klein? No, but maybe people assume they are.
Despite the fact that they’re not related, there is some overlap in what they do that involves more than their name, so let’s dig into the similarities and differences.
Annie Klein? Calvin Klein? These two names are famous among American fashion designers. Consumers are often drawn to these well-known names, and most think they are affiliated or related.
Is that true? Are Anne Klein and Calvin Klein related?
Learn more about these names in the article as we uncover this mystery.
Is Anne Klein Related to Calvin Klein?
No, Anne Klein is not related to Calvin Klein. As surprising or confusing as it may seem, they are two different brands with the same last name, making it easy to mistake them for each other.
They are not related. The name is merely a coincidence. It’s safe to assume both brands were probably unaware of the outcome when they were just starting. In fact, there are few other fashion designer brands that share similar names too.
So which brand is Anne Klein, and which is Calvin Klein? Follow along.
About Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer who partnered with his childhood friend Barry K. Schwartz to launch the Calvin Klein Inc. company in 1986. The company was founded in New York City and had its headquarters there.
The Calvin Klein collection includes designer accessories, fragrances, attire, footwear, cosmetics, handbags, and home furnishings.
Calvin Klein has two siblings: Barry and Alexis Klein, and has a child named Marci Klein.
About Anne Klein & Company
Anne Klein is an independent American fashion designer who founded Anne Klein, a women’s sportswear and apparel company. Her real name is Hannah Golofsky. She got the “Klein” name when she married Ben Klein, an owner of an attire manufacturing company.
Both of them founded a petite fashion line that focuses on younger women. However, it was after their divorce that Hannah married her second husband, who she later patterned with to create the Anne Klein & Company in New York. She rebranded her first name to Anne so it could improve the appeal.
The Similarities
We’ll start with the basics. Both Kleins are fashion brands, but Calvin’s influence is far more pervasive than Anne’s.
Why? Start with Calvin Klein’s holdings.
They include the likes of Tommy Hilfiger, IZOD, and Van Heusen, among others. So, it’s obviously a portfolio that extends into many corners of the clothing and fashion world.
Anne Klein’s fashion company meanwhile is owned by WHP Global, which acquired her company in 2019.
Anne Klein sells a wide array of lifestyle products, including footwear, apparel, jewelry and watches, and that apparel is sold in over 50 countries.
She made her name as a designer in the 40s and 50s, and when Anne opened her own studio in the 60s she began winning a series of fashion-related awards.
Anne Klein passed in 1974 due to cancer, but her legacy lives on in her products and designs.
She’s not as well known as Calvin, but she’ll always have a place as a paragon of the fashion world.
Calvin Klein, meanwhile, has taken a very different path.
His clothing and perfumes have been controversial, largely due to the erotic tinge of many advertisements for CK products.
Differentiating AK from CK
Here are a few more insights to help you further differentiate them:
- There is a distinct Wikipedia page for each of them. If you look through, you’ll be able to see there is no connection at all. Usually, if there is, it’ll be immediately visible here.
- The Anne Klein label is quite different from Calvin Klein. It’s independent and trying to share/take market share from Calvin Klein. In essence, they are competing brands.
- The Klein name is a polarized German surname, so people from the same country can bear the surname without having to be related.
- Finally, according to her Wikipedia name, Anne Klein’s birth name is simply “Hannah Golofsky” compared to her counterpart who takes the birth name of Calvin Richard Klein.
Conclusion & Summary
What you need to know about both AK and CK…
Generally speaking, Calvin Klein has a wider influence, although the quality of CK products has diminished over the course of the last couple of decades.
CK is still a viable corporate brand, but Calvin Klein no longer stands at the pinnacle of the fashion universe.
