Is Calvin Klein BRAT?I am going to embarrass myself here and tell you that I did not know that PVH was a listed company, and it owns Calvin Klein! D’oh!
They also own Tommy Hilfiger. You may think of CK as mostly a marketer of bras, underwear and so on. But for a while they were a force in American fashion — a kind of utilitarian, Carolyn Bassette-Kennedy vision of sporty chic. They just had their first fashion show in 7 years, and they hired ex-Celine assistant designer Veronica Leoni. The show felt like a retrospective in a sense, and it mostly drew from Raf Simon’s era there — critically praised but didn’t sell. I guess the question though, is, how do the new clothes translate into product? After all, CK has great marketing — and a great brand — but the product, other than bras and undies — is not there.
Remains to be seen. Right now PVH is a bit of a shitshow — I mean, there are fires everywhere:
Not only has China just blacklisted it, they also have their manufacturing agreement with G-III ending in 2027. They’ve said they’d like to onshore, but that’s easier said than done — people forget how integrated China is in the manufacturing process. You can’t just magic up that scale overnight!
In other words, there’s a reason it trades at 6x earnings. Is CK brat? No.
Reminds me of a few other US retail stocks — VF Corp, for one, which makes Vans and The North Face. Fine product, but cyclical as anything — too much of a hostage to retail stores. No margin. Not brat either.
This analysis is provided by Eden Bradfeld at BlackBull Research—sign up for their Substack to receive the latest market insights straight to your inbox.
