Fashion
Calvin Klein Tries Something New
The buzzy designer Nensi Dojaka will offer a moodier take on the famous underwear. No tight white briefs or sweaty six-packs in sight.
Nensi Dojaka has achieved fashion’s rising-star trifecta: the prestigious LVMH Prize, which she won in 2021; celebrity patronage from the likes of Zendaya and Bella Hadid; and rumors flying that she was in contention for top jobs at major fashion houses.
Still, the life of an emerging designer is not easy. There have been growing pains. Ms. Dojaka has not held a runway show since February 2023, despite shows being a useful marketing tool for young fashion brands.
She has focused instead on restructuring her company — bringing her sales and distribution operations in-house — and sparing herself the high expense of participating in fashion week.
“This was a very big change, and even today, it’s not like we’re used to it yet,” said Ms. Dojaka, 31, an Albanian designer who moved to London at 18 to study fashion at Central Saint Martins. “I needed to basically invest in that, rather than showing.”
This season, however, she is back on the London calendar with the help of one company: Calvin Klein. The American label approached her for a collaboration last year. The results will be incorporated into her show on Saturday, alongside the Nensi Dojaka spring collection.
Eva Serrano, who joined Calvin Klein as global brand president last year, said she admired Ms. Dojaka’s modern aesthetic: “There is nothing traditional there.”
