Calvin Klein’s Global Ambassadorships Fuel 2% Growth and Brand Expansion

2025 proved to be a pivotal year for Calvin Klein, as the brand successfully revitalized its core offerings – underwear and denim – through a strategic shift towards leveraging international brand ambassadors. This move has demonstrably impacted the company’s performance, culminating in a 2% growth in the third quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in the previous year.

Historically rooted in New York City’s aesthetic and the minimalist trends of the 1990s, Calvin Klein embraced a more globally inclusive approach. A prime example of this is the collaboration with Puerto Rican music superstar Bad Bunny, launched in March to promote the new Icon Cotton Stretch menswear range. Capitalizing on Bad Bunny’s recent successes – including accolades from the 2025 Latin Grammy Awards and a highly anticipated Super Bowl halftime show performance – the campaign resonated strongly with audiences and signaled a deliberate broadening of the brand’s cultural perspective.

Further solidifying this international strategy, Calvin Klein partnered with Spanish music icon Rosalía, whose recent album "Lux" brought her back into the spotlight. Rosalía fronts the Icon Cotton Modal range, which has experienced significant “double-digit growth worldwide” as a direct result of the collaboration. Complementing these efforts, campaigns featuring NBA star Jalen Green and Real Madrid footballer Trent Alexander-Arnold drove a substantial 20% increase in sales for the Icon Cotton Stretch underwear line.

The brand’s iconic denim line has also benefited from this global expansion. The campaign featuring Jungkook, a globally recognized K-pop star and Calvin Klein ambassador since 2023, generated considerable viral engagement, reinforcing denim’s position as both a culturally relevant and commercially successful pillar of the Calvin Klein brand. This strategy clearly aims to connect with a younger, digitally-savvy, and culturally diverse audience extending far beyond the American market.

Despite this outward-facing internationalization, Calvin Klein remains committed to its American heritage. The Spring 2026 runway show, held in New York, achieved record-breaking social media engagement, positioning the brand as a leader in media visibility during fashion week, garnering 75% of total coverage. This strategic staging in New York serves as a powerful anchor to the brand’s identity, while the international ambassadors simultaneously propel Calvin Klein towards a broader global narrative.

This focus on international ambassadors is a relatively recent development, beginning in 2022 with the recruitment of South Korean personalities Jennie, Jungkook, and Mingyu. The strategy has gained momentum and is already yielding measurable results across various product lines. Prior to this shift, Calvin Klein primarily collaborated with North American celebrities such as Kendall Jenner, A$AP Rocky, Shawn Mendes, Christy Turlington, Jeremy Allen White, and Kid Cudi.