Calvin Klein

"The soul of this man is his clothes." Shakespeare

At virtually any store in the free world, you can find racks filled with designer fashions. That was not always the case. Before the 1970s they were found only in the most exclusive stores. Calvin Klein changed all that. Calvin seemed to have a knack for fashion even as a child. Sometimes he would help his friends buy clothes. It was natural for Klein to consider fashion as a career. He studied at Manhattan's Fashion Institute of Technology in the hopes of becoming a designer.

After graduation and for six long years Calvin struggled with low-paying jobs around New York's fashion district. Perhaps he was in the wrong industry. He considered joining a family friend in the grocery business. Instead, his friend was so convinced of Klein's talent that he seeded Calvin with $10,000 to begin Calvin Klein Ltd. In 1968 Klein began by designing women's coats. They were classy, simple and elegant and fitted right into the changing lifestyles of the era. Klein seemed to have a knack for the tastes of the "post-hippy" generation. His comfortable, stylish and relatively inexpensive clothes introduced the concept of designer fashion to a whole generation. By 1975 Klein had won three consecutive Coty awards and was inducted into the Coty Hall of Fame.

CONSIDER THIS: What are you good at doing? What do you enjoy doing? Is there any way you can do it for a living? Can you use that talent in the work you are doing today?