Calvin Klein plans to make a formal runway return next year, previewing its collaboration with LVMH Prize winner Nensi Dojaka on Thursday.
This partnership will be unveiled during Dojaka’s Spring 2025 show on Saturday evening at the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London.
This marks Dojaka’s return to London Fashion Week after presenting her last two collections as lookbooks.
It’s no surprise that Calvin Klein has chosen to collaborate with Dojaka, whose unique blend of seduction, poise, and elegance has garnered a loyal online following. Her celebrity fans include Alexa Chung, Beyoncé, Kendall Jenner, Anya Taylor-Joy, Olivia Rodrigo, Sienna Miller, Cailee Spaeny, and fellow Albanian pop star Dua Lipa, who wore a mini-shirtdress from Dojaka’s Spring 2024 collection at the Sunny Hill Festival this summer.
Dojaka has often cited Calvin Klein’s sensual, minimalist aesthetic—especially from the ’90s—as a source of inspiration. She studied underwear design at the London College of Fashion before advancing to the MA Fashion program at Central Saint Martins, led by Fabio Piras. The collaboration promises to blend Dojaka’s “intricate visual language” with
“the innovation and design codes core to Calvin Klein.”
This collaboration comes as Calvin Klein prepares for its official runway return next year after a five-year hiatus. Veronica Leoni has been appointed as the new creative director for the brand’s revived Collection line, which was previously known as 205W39NYC before it was shuttered in March 2019 following Raf Simons’ departure.
Born in Tirana, Albania, Dojaka moved to the U.K. at 16 to attend boarding school in Shrewsbury. She graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2019, where her collection was showcased during London Fashion Week. In December, it was announced that she would be part of Lulu Kennedy’s Fashion East platform, alongside other emerging talents.
Dojaka was shortlisted as one of the 20 finalists for the 2021 LVMH Prize for Young Designers and won the grand prize that September, just weeks before her solo debut show for Spring 2022. She also received the BFC Foundation Award for Emerging Talent at the Fashion Awards later that year.
Her Spring 2023 show became one of the most-viewed collections online, generating over $1.6 million in earned media value, just behind JW Anderson. Last year, she created bespoke outfits for Zendaya’s Smartwater campaign, with the “Euphoria” star wearing a custom blue dress inspired by her Fall 2023 collection.
Dojaka’s designs have attracted attention from retailers as well. She created a bridal capsule for Mytheresa and took over the atrium at Selfridges for an eveningwear-focused capsule. LuisaViaRoma sought worldwide exclusivity on the red gown worn by Emily Ratajkowski to close the Spring 2023 show, featuring it in its “Runway Icons” event in Florence in June 2023. Her shoe line, launched in Spring 2023, has also seen steady growth, with leading retailers like Ssense, Selfridges, and Mytheresa picking it up, and 23 additional accounts added for Spring 2024.
