Love Story gives Calvins a bump. ZUMA Press/Alamy Logo text Calvin Klein hasn’t owned Calvin Klein for decades, but the most Calvin Klein-y part of Calvin Klein — the clingy white boxer briefs that Marky Mark once donned on billboards over Times Square — is suddenly back in fashion. Thanks to Love Story, the Ryan Murphy-produced JFK Jr.-Carolyn Bessette miniseries that reimagined the iconic designer as a supporting character in America’s most photogenic doomed romance, Calvin Klein undies once again are flying off shelves.
PVH Corp., the company that bought the Calvin Klein brand in 2003, isn’t releasing exact figures, but during an earnings call, CEO Stefan Larsson couldn’t stop gushing about how sales of skivvies had surged since the limited series began streaming on Hulu in February. “We can’t talk about Calvin Klein today without talking about Love Story the TV show,” he told analysts. “When the show launched, we could see the search increase for Calvin Klein. … The consumer is looking for iconic Calvin, starting with iconic underwear.”
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But here’s where the underpants start bunching up: It turns out that Klein, now 83, apparently wanted nothing to do with Love Story, in which he’s portrayed by Alessandro Nivola as Bessette’s exacting boss and the accidental cupid who introduced her to John — and, later, became Bessette’s jilted mentor. Sources close to Klein tell Rambling that he thought the idea of a John-Carolyn TV saga was tacky and tasteless and turned away Murphy’s offers to participate.
Not that any of this matters to Calvin Klein’s current owners, who suddenly find themselves in the middle of a boxer-brief boom. In fact, according to Launchmetrics, the analytics firm that tracks the dollar value of brand exposure, Love Story-related media chatter has generated more than $16 million in impact value for the company. That’s basically a free ad campaign — even if it doesn’t include any Marky Mark billboards.
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Also in Rambling Reporter:
Liv and Maddie star Joey Bragg has finally discovered a way to relaunch his career; David Geffen reunites with ex-husband David Armstrong on a yacht.
This story appeared in the June 10 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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