Heron Preston’s collaboration with Calvin Klein goes back to the brand’s essential ideals

Heron Preston and Calvin Klein want to deliver a wardrobe for a whole new kind of world.

Their project, a new collection a year in the making, saw Preston dive into Klein’s archives, searching for the shapes, colours, and fabrics that would make up a brand-new array of wardrobe-binding staples. Embodying the brand’s core values of minimalism, sensuality, youth, and freedom, the result is a capsule collection of unisex pieces focused on self-expression, with an eye towards body and identity inclusivity. It is a collection of pieces that come alive in different ways depending on who’s wearing them.

Amongst the iconic white T-shirts, hoodies, sweatpants, carpenter jeans, and—of course—underwear, keep an eye out for the bright orange thread in between the brand’s colour wheel fundamentals of “Klein blue” and chalk. The essential but never generic essence of the pieces have been elevated by Preston’s flair. Under the arms of a plain white T-shirt, you’ll find gussets; stitching pops off of other pieces in a way that makes it look nearly 3D in nature.

But it all comes back to basics in the end. “When you come from streetwear and skateboarding, with my background, the T-shirt is something you start designing first and is what you’ve got to do best. It’s like social currency for us,” says Preston. The air of relatability, simplicity, and relevance that he started cultivating in his spring 2021 and fall 2021 menswear collections is carried through and elaborated upon here. No more, no less.

Of his whirlwind tour through Calvin Klein’s history for inspiration, Preston said, “I’m a very visual person, so being able to play with colours and fabrics within the archive was a dream. I wanted to respect that history, and at the same time, make sure the collection felt modern and relevant.” 

He called the collection a “collaboration 2.0” because of the deep connection he has with the brand—Preston recalled memories of his father donning the brand’s signature scent—and the fascinating story he was able to weave as not only designer, but also a marketing and advertising consultant to the campaign.

The campaign itself features a diverse cast handpicked from Preston’s close circle of friends and muses, a veritable plethora of cultural movers and shakers. These include Kaia Gerber, Nas, Ashley Graham, Stevie Williams, Lil Uzi Vert, Jordan Alexander, and Preston’s partner Sabrina Albarello. This roster of names was lensed by director and photographer Renell Medrano, who also turned her camera on herself for the collection’s campaign.

“It is about forming interconnected partnerships who can help us tell our story in a way that maybe we couldn’t on our own,” Jacob Jordan, the Global Chief Merchant, Head of Product Strategy & New Product Ventures, said. “Working with Heron was such a perfect place to start. He sits at the crossroads of culture, interconnecting various disciplines—threading ways between youth and creativity.”

Heron Preston x Calvin Klein is available at calvinklein.com/sg.