Customer Reviews

The House of Klein: Fashion, Controversy, and a Business Obsession

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As an avid reader of any and all fashion books, I found this first release from Lisa Marsh (who is in fact a well known business writer formally of the New York Post) not only interesting from a fashionistas perspective but very enlightening from the business perspective. This tells the REAL story of how the mammoth House of Klein began, from its humble roots to its now infamous advertisements and worldwide fame. Most people only know about the label that is on the back of their skirt or jacket, but Marsh lets you know how it really got there- what really happens behind those beatiful oak wood doors marked 'Calvin Klein'. I recommend it for all!

This book describes the life and career of Calvin Klein, one of the more influential fashion designers in the last 30 years. The book is laid out in chronological order, beginning with Klein's childhood, education, early career, and his recent status as a fashion heavyweight and pop icon.

The book focuses more on his career, and how the fashion industry as a whole has affected and was affected by him. For those looking for gossip about Klein or his associates, this book will not provide it. What it does provide is an inside glimpse of how the fashion industry works. Klein is unique in that he has been involved in just about every aspect of the Western fashion industry some time or another in his life; whether it be making designs, creating supply chains, maintaining an actual clothing store, running a fashion company, selecting models, putting together ad campaigns, dealing with media, etc.. As such, this book covers all these different aspects and shows the failures and successes of one man, Calvin Klein, in each of these sectors of the business.

The book also shows the conflicts between the big egos in fashion, how these conflicts play out, and how they affect employees of the fashion industry, and us the consumers. Last, the book gives a good idea of how money is divied up within the fashion world. Specifically, when someone buys an article of clothing at a store, that money gets divided among many different parties, and this book shows how that is done.

Overall, I am glad I read it. Nearly everyone in America is affected by the fashion industry, yet so few of us know anything about it. Reading this book helped changed that for me. I only give it three stars because for all the pluses of this book; I found it boring. Maybe I am just not interested in fashion.

If you are interested in fashion, this is a must read. The House of Klein is a fantastic book. The author shares the story of Calvin Klein with all the intimate details of his life and business. This is a book not to be missed!

As a fan of Calvin Klein's clothing and fragrances, I was thrilled to finally see a biography on him. Although his name is everywhere and on everything, the man himself remained a mystery. Until I read this book. It offers a great behind-the-scenes peek into who he is, where he came from, and how he built such a succesful international business, despite many missteps along the way. A must-read for anyone interested in the man behind the myth.

I love anything fashion related. Calvin Klein is such a fascinating figure that I had to buy this book when I heard it was coming out. The author does a great job in explaining how Calvin Klein grew his business and how he became such an international celebrity.

I expected to get a lot more from this book and was sadly disappointed. I hoped to read more about Calvin Klein's life and found myself struggling through dry chapters about corporate sales and whatnot. I went into it knowing this was a business book but thought it could've been better. It might be ok for people who read the Wall Street Journal regularly (then again, if that's the case, you probably would know everything in the book anyway). If you're just a fan of fashion and more interested in Klein's clothes and a biography of him, this is not the book for you.