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Under the aegis of creative director Amy Mellen, Calvin Klein Home has crafted a dynamic method of developing custom colors for its collections, incorporating shades inspired by Mellen’s world travels.
Each season, Mellen creates a palette for Calvin Klein Home based upon her current obsessions—from such various sources as the opalescent tinge of a hummingbird’s wing, the luminous vermilion of a cochineal insect, the mellow tones of a black walnut’s husk.
The hues are arranged on a mood board and eventually curated into a coherent color story.
To cultivate Calvin Klein Home ‘s collections, Mellen dyes her own fabric, often grinding natural ingredients into fine powders to mix with mordant (a substance that bonds dye to cloth) before setting the dyed cloth by submerging it in cold water.
Her approach is traditional—for instance, Mellen still uses cochineal insects to create her vibrant carmine pigment, a method first employed in 15th-century Central America.
“People think of Calvin Klein Home as not using a lot of color,” says Mellen, “but we really do.”
After 20 years in the business, it’s the nuance of the company’s color sense that makes a powerful impression.
This gray Acacia bedding is an ideal example of Calvin Klein Home ’s subtle use of color!
