Calvin Klein’s Wives: Jayne Centre, Kelly Klein, and His Life Today

The question of who is Calvin Klein wife — or rather, who his wives were — has two distinct answers separated by more than a decade. His first wife was Jayne Centre, a textile designer he wed in 1964 after a childhood spent growing up next door to her in the Bronx. His second wife was Kelly Rector, who married him in Rome in 1986 and spent twenty years as both his partner and one of the most influential creative forces behind his brand. Since his 2006 divorce, Klein has lived openly as bisexual and has been with model Kevin Baker since 2016.

Calvin Klein’s Marriage History at a Glance

Calvin Klein married twice across four decades of public life. His first marriage to Jayne Centre lasted from 1964 to 1974. His second, to Kelly Rector, ran from 1986 to 2006. The Calvin Klein wife question gets complicated by the fact that both women were meaningful collaborators in addition to partners — not simply decorative figures in a famous man’s biography.

Two very different marriages, two very different eras. The first shaped Klein as a young designer fighting for recognition; the second coincided with the decade that made him a household name worldwide. By any measure, the story of Calvin Klein’s personal life is inseparable from the rise of his brand.

Jayne Centre: Calvin Klein’s First Wife

Jayne Centre was Calvin Klein’s first wife, a textile designer he married in 1964. According to Wikipedia’s biography of Calvin Klein, the two grew up next door to each other in New York and attended the same high school before Klein went on to study fashion at the Fashion Institute of Technology. They divorced in 1974 after a decade of marriage and have a daughter, Marci Klein, who was born in 1966.

Centre’s background in textiles was not incidental to Klein’s early career. At a time when he was building his first collections from scratch, her professional eye for fabric and construction gave him a working environment where craft was taken seriously. According to multiple biographical accounts, including coverage by Vanity Fair, Klein and Centre’s shared roots were deep — the kind of history that predates ambition and fame by many years.

The marriage ended in 1974 as Klein’s career began its ascent. He was already drawing significant attention in New York fashion circles, and by most accounts the pressures of that climb put distance between them. They had built a life on shared neighborhood ties and youthful familiarity, and the fashion world, once it got hold of Klein, demanded something else entirely. Their daughter Marci went on to become a television producer, working for years on Saturday Night Live.

Kelly Klein: The Second Wife Who Shaped a Brand

Kelly Rector joined Calvin Klein’s company as an assistant in the early 1980s, became his creative collaborator, and married him in a private ceremony in Rome in 1986. Over the course of their twenty-year marriage, she served as one of his most important muses, influencing campaigns, modeling for the brand, and helping shape the clean, understated aesthetic that defined Calvin Klein through the 1990s. They separated in 1996 and finalized their divorce in 2006.

Kelly’s influence on the brand had a specific, measurable dimension. Per People magazine’s reporting on Kelly Klein’s career, she is credited with driving the introduction of men’s underwear styles marketed to women, a move that reportedly generated around $70 million in sales and fundamentally repositioned how Calvin Klein thought about gender in fashion. That contribution alone puts her in a category beyond “designer’s wife.”

The Rome wedding in 1986 was a deliberately private affair. No press presence, no celebrity announcement. For a couple whose professional lives were intensely public, the choice to keep the ceremony intimate said something about how seriously they took their relationship outside the industry’s glare.

“Kelly Klein: Calvin’s wife, muse, and forever icon!”

— r/CarolynBessetteKnndy, March 2026 (715 upvotes)

Wikipedia’s biographical entry on Calvin Klein documents Kelly’s formal role within the company as well as her significance to the brand’s visual identity during that period, noting her influence on the minimalist aesthetic that became the brand’s signature through the late 1980s and 1990s.

They separated in 1996, though the divorce was not finalized until a decade later in 2006. During that time, both continued to appear at industry events. The length of the separation before the divorce was finalized speaks to the complexity of untangling a relationship that was personal, professional, and deeply social all at once.

The Carolyn Bessette Kennedy Connection

Carolyn Bessette served as Calvin Klein’s Director of Public Relations throughout the 1990s, working closely with Kelly Klein and becoming one of her closest friends. Their shared world at the brand, Bessette managing public image, Kelly shaping its aesthetic identity, defined one of fashion’s most talked-about inner circles, now revisited through the FX series Love Story (February 2026).

“Kelly Klein and Carolyn Bessette: 90s Calvin Klein days at the office.”

— r/CarolynBessetteKnndy, March 15, 2026 (328 upvotes)

Bessette started at Calvin Klein as a sales associate in the Boston store before moving to the New York corporate offices as a publicist, a trajectory that r/CarolynBessetteKnndy, a community focused on her legacy and the broader 1990s fashion world, has discussed extensively in recent months. Her friendship with Kelly Klein became one of the more-examined relationships from that era once the FX series began airing.

“I Was in the 1988 ‘Girls of B.U.’ Calendar with Carolyn Bessette and She Was Cooler Than All of Us Combined.”

— r/JohnAndCarolyn, March 12, 2026 (455 upvotes)

The convergence of Kelly Klein, Carolyn Bessette, and the Calvin Klein brand in the same set of offices during the early-to-mid 1990s produced one of fashion’s most quietly influential inner circles. Elle Decor’s 2024 retrospective on Calvin and Kelly framed their relationship through the lens of 1990s quiet luxury, a term that didn’t exist then but describes exactly what they built together. Both women had exceptional instincts for style, both understood what the brand stood for at a gut level, and both became cultural reference points that outlasted the decade. The renewed interest in this period, driven largely by the FX series, has given younger audiences a way into a story that was once largely confined to fashion insiders.

Where Is Kelly Klein Now?

Kelly Klein lives between the Hamptons and Palm Beach, running a photography and design studio that has been her primary focus since leaving the fashion world after her 2006 divorce. Since then, she has built a reputation as a fine art photographer and ceramicist, with her work featured in publications including Architectural Digest and Equestrian Living. South China Morning Post profiled her career evolution extensively, tracing her path from Ralph Lauren associate to Calvin Klein muse to working artist.

Her studio at kellykleinstudio.com documents an artistic practice that grew gradually out of the photography work she first took seriously in the late 1990s. The transition from fashion insider and designer’s muse to working fine artist is one that few people in her position have navigated as quietly or as completely. She has given few interviews over the years, which is consistent with how she conducted herself even at the peak of the Calvin Klein years.

She and Calvin Klein were reportedly photographed together at New York Fashion Week in 2025, more than two decades after their separation. By most accounts, the friendship between them survived the divorce, a detail that says something about how the relationship functioned even when the marriage no longer did.

Calvin Klein’s Personal Life After 2006

Since his divorce from Kelly Klein in 2006, Calvin Klein has lived openly as bisexual, a disclosure that received relatively little fanfare given the public nature of his life. He began a relationship with model Kevin Baker in 2016. Baker, born in 1988, is 46 years younger than Klein. As of 2026, Klein is 83 and Baker is 37, and the two continue to appear together at public events in New York.

Klein had a series of other relationships before Baker, including a relationship with Nicholas Gruber between approximately 2010 and 2012. The pairing with Gruber attracted tabloid attention at the time. The relationship with Baker has proven more durable and substantially lower-profile by comparison.

Klein largely stepped away from the day-to-day fashion world after selling his company to Phillips-Van Heusen in 2003. The brand continues under new creative direction. He spends time between properties in Southampton and Palm Beach, an overlap with Kelly Klein’s geography that seems entirely incidental, or perhaps simply speaks to where that generation of New York fashion wealth tends to land.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Calvin Klein’s wife?

Calvin Klein does not currently have a wife. He has been married twice: first to Jayne Centre from 1964 to 1974, and second to Kelly Rector (known as Kelly Klein) from 1986 to 2006. The Calvin Klein wife story ends in 2006 with the finalization of that divorce. Since 2016 he has been in a long-term relationship with model Kevin Baker.

Who is Kelly Klein?

Kelly Klein, born Kelly Rector, was Calvin Klein’s second wife. She joined his company as an assistant in the early 1980s, married him in Rome in 1986, and was a key muse and creative collaborator for the brand throughout the 1990s. Since their 2006 divorce, she has worked as a fine art photographer and ceramicist.

When did Calvin Klein get married?

Calvin Klein married for the first time in 1964, to Jayne Centre. He married for the second time in 1986, to Kelly Rector, in Rome. Both marriages ended in divorce, the first in 1974, the second in 2006.

Does Calvin Klein have children?

Calvin Klein has one child: a daughter, Marci Klein, born in 1966 to him and his first wife Jayne Centre. Marci Klein has had a career in television production, including a long tenure as a producer on Saturday Night Live.

Who was Jayne Centre?

Jayne Centre was Calvin Klein’s first wife, a textile designer. She and Klein grew up next door to each other in the Bronx and attended the same high school. They married in 1964 and divorced in 1974, and have one daughter together.

Is Calvin Klein bisexual?

Yes. Calvin Klein publicly disclosed his bisexuality after his 2006 divorce from Kelly Klein. He has had relationships with both men and women over the years. Since 2016 he has been with model Kevin Baker.

Who is Kevin Baker, Calvin Klein’s partner?

Kevin Baker is a model born in 1988, making him 46 years younger than Calvin Klein. Klein and Baker began their relationship in 2016 and continue to appear together publicly as of 2026. Baker is Klein’s longest-running relationship since his divorce from Kelly Klein.

What was Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s connection to Calvin Klein?

Carolyn Bessette worked as Director of Public Relations at Calvin Klein throughout the 1990s. She became close friends with Kelly Klein during that time. Both women were central figures in the inner circle of the brand during its most culturally influential decade. The FX series Love Story (2026) renewed widespread interest in this chapter of the brand’s history.

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