Coming to America

Italian-born Veronica Leoni ushers in a new era at Calvin Klein—one that’s both her own and a love letter to the label's legendary founder.

- By Alexis Okeowo.

On a rainy day in early May, Veronica Leoni, the Roman creative director behind Calvin Klein, is at a fitting for her spring 2026 collection in New York's garment district, where the company has its headquarters. She examines a dress and a trench coat—all the while refining what she calls the transatlantic vision of the new Calvin Klein Collection: combining the “casual, deconstructed beauty” of Rome with the fast rhythm of New York’s streets.

After six years away from the runway, Calvin Klein wants to reclaim its place as the prime mover for contemporary American excellence in minimalist fashion. Enter Leoni, 42, an animated pixie with a sweep of salt-and-pepper hair. When we meet, in a white-walled room next to a bare-bones atelier full of tables with sewing machines and hanging samples, she’s wearing a slouchy gray button-down shirt, black drawstring dress pants, and Tabi boots. Tailors and a seamstress are at work as Leoni goes over the garments with her designer and patternmaker.

“My inner trend is actually chaos and disorder,” she says, laughing. “But I'm beyond a perfectionist—I can see the issue of a pattern from far, and I'm obsessed with 90-degree corners.”