PVH is the parent company behind two of the most recognisable names in American fashion. The initials stand for Phillips-Van Heusen, a shirt business that started in 1881 selling to coal miners in Pennsylvania. Over two decades it bought Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, then sold almost everything else, including IZOD, Van Heusen, ARROW and Warner’s. Today it is a New York-listed group of about 26,000 people, caught between US tariffs on one side and a Chinese government blacklist on the other. Here is who owns what, what PVH paid, and where the business stands in 2026.
Short answer: PVH Corp., a New York Stock Exchange-listed company formerly called Phillips-Van Heusen, owns both Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein. It bought Calvin Klein in 2003, Tommy Hilfiger in 2010 for about €2.2 billion ($3 billion) and Warnaco in 2013 for about $2.9 billion. The two brands now generate over 95% of PVH’s revenue, which was $9.0 billion in fiscal 2025.
Key takeaways
- PVH owns the TOMMY HILFIGER and Calvin Klein trademarks outright. Tommy Hilfiger revenue was $4.77 billion and Calvin Klein $3.96 billion in fiscal 2025.
- PVH sold IZOD, Van Heusen, ARROW and Geoffrey Beene to Authentic Brands Group for about $220 million in 2021, and Warner’s, Olga and True&Co. to Basic Resources in November 2023.
- China’s Ministry of Commerce opened an investigation in September 2024 and placed PVH on its Unreliable Entity List in February 2025. PVH says no measures had been imposed as of its latest annual report.
- US tariffs had a gross impact of about $69 million on PVH’s 2025 gross profit. It expects about $195 million in 2026, before mitigation, and received $107 million in tariff refunds in the second quarter.
What is PVH?
PVH Corp. is a Delaware corporation headquartered at 285 Madison Avenue in New York. Its annual report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on 31 March 2026, describes it as “one of the largest global apparel companies in the world”, with about 26,000 associates in more than 40 countries and revenue of $9.0 billion in 2025. PVH’s fiscal year ends on the Sunday closest to 1 February, so “2025” ran from 3 February 2025 to 1 February 2026.
The company’s own timeline starts in 1881, when founders Moses and Endel Phillips began mending and selling shirts to coal miners around Pottsville, Pennsylvania. The business moved to New York in 1890, partnered with the inventor John M. Van Heusen on a soft-folding collar in 1919, and listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in 1920. It took the name Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation in 1957, after its best-known shirt brand, and shortened it to PVH Corp. in 2011.
FLJ Insider Pro is open: live fashion law jobs and internships, five career guides and two roadmaps. Early bird USD 12/month. See what's inside
Who owns Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein?
PVH owns both. Its 10-K lists TOMMY HILFIGER, TOMMY JEANS, Calvin Klein, Calvin Klein Jeans, Calvin Klein Underwear, Calvin Klein Sport and Calvin Klein Collection as brands “which are owned”. PVH itself is a public company, so its shareholders are the ultimate owners.
Neither founder owns his brand today. Calvin Klein, Inc. was sold to Phillips-Van Heusen in a deal that closed in February 2003. California Apparel News described the package in December 2002 as $400 million in cash, $30 million in stock and royalties it valued at more than $200 million. PVH bought Tommy Hilfiger B.V. from funds affiliated with the private equity firm Apax Partners, which announced the agreement on 15 March 2010 at about €2.2 billion ($3.0 billion), made up of €1.924 billion in cash and €276 million in PVH shares. The deal closed on 6 May 2010. PVH’s 10-K says Tommy Hilfiger “remains the Principal Designer” of the brand.
The 2013 purchase of Warnaco completed the picture. Warnaco held the worldwide licence for Calvin Klein Jeans and owned Calvin Klein Underwear, so buying it, in PVH’s words, reunited “the House of Calvin Klein”. The deal, announced on 31 October 2012, valued Warnaco at about $2.9 billion, paid as $51.75 in cash plus 0.1822 of a PVH share for each Warnaco share, and closed in February 2013.
Which brands has PVH kept, licensed or sold?
Owning a trademark and making the products are different things in fashion. PVH licenses both of its brands to about 30 partners each, for products such as fragrance, eyewear and watches, and it licenses in other people’s brands for some categories. The table sets out the position based on PVH’s filings and company releases.
| Brand | Status in 2026 | Key dates |
|---|---|---|
| TOMMY HILFIGER, TOMMY JEANS | Owned | Acquired from Apax funds, closed May 2010 |
| Calvin Klein (including Jeans, Underwear, Sport, Collection) | Owned | Calvin Klein, Inc. acquired February 2003; Warnaco acquired February 2013 |
| Van Heusen | Trademark sold; licensed back for certain categories | Sold to Authentic Brands Group in 2021; PVH still sells Van Heusen dress shirts under licence |
| IZOD | Sold | Bought in 1995; sold to Authentic Brands Group in 2021 |
| ARROW | Sold | Came with Cluett, Peabody & Co. in 2004; sold to Authentic Brands Group in 2021 |
| Geoffrey Beene | Sold | Bought in 2018 after years as a licensee; sold to Authentic Brands Group in 2021 |
| Warner’s, Olga | Sold | Came with Warnaco in 2013; sold to Basic Resources on 27 November 2023 |
| True&Co. | Sold | Bought in 2017; sold to Basic Resources on 27 November 2023 |
| Nike (men’s underwear) | Licensed in | Licence agreement entered in 2019 |
The 2021 exit from what PVH calls its Heritage Brands was a choice to concentrate. PVH announced on 23 June 2021 that it would sell the IZOD, Van Heusen, ARROW and Geoffrey Beene trademarks to Authentic Brands Group for about $220 million in cash. Chief executive Stefan Larsson called it “a difficult decision”. The structure is common: a brand management company buys the name and earns royalties from licensees, while the former owner may keep making some products under licence. FLJ explains how those deals are built in how to decide between types of licensing agreements and fashion licensing lawyer: the deals behind the label.
PVH is now moving the other way with its own brands in North America. It extended most of its Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger licences with G-III Apparel Group in November 2022, with staggered expiries through 2026, and says it intends to run a large part of those categories itself as they end. In fiscal 2025, Tommy Hilfiger brought in $4,770.9 million, Calvin Klein $3,964.0 million and the remaining Heritage Brands business $215.3 million.
Why is PVH on China’s Unreliable Entity List?
Because China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) says PVH broke what it calls normal market trading principles. PVH’s 10-K sets out the sequence. In September 2024 MOFCOM opened an investigation on suspicion that PVH had suspended normal transactions with Chinese entities, adopted “discriminatory measures” against products made with materials from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and violated normal market trading principles. PVH responded in writing in October and December 2024. In January 2025 MOFCOM issued a preliminary finding that PVH had violated normal market trading principles, and in February 2025 it placed PVH on the list.
The listing came on 4 February 2025, the same day China announced retaliatory tariffs on some US goods and added the gene sequencing company Illumina to the list, as Fashion Dive reported. PVH said it was “surprised and deeply disappointed” and that it complies strictly with relevant laws. According to its 10-K, possible measures include fines, limits on import, export and investment in China, and entry bans for staff, but “no measures have been imposed” so far. China matters: PVH says it generated about 6% of its revenue and about 20% of its income before interest and taxes there in each of 2024 and 2025, excluding impairments. FLJ looks at how brands end up caught between Washington and Beijing in China’s retaliation against the US forced labour crackdown, and at Europe’s coming rules in the EU Forced Labour Regulation.
How are tariffs affecting PVH?
Most of PVH’s products are imported into the countries where they are sold, so tariff policy goes straight to its margins. The 10-K says the new US tariffs had a gross impact of about $69 million on 2025 gross profit, partly offset by mitigation, and cut gross margin by about 80 basis points. After the US Supreme Court ruled in February 2026 that many of the tariffs were unlawful, the President imposed a temporary tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, effective 24 February 2026. PVH’s 2026 outlook assumes a 15% rate on goods entering the US and a gross impact of about $195 million before mitigation.
The court ruling also brought money back. In its second-quarter results of 2 September 2026, PVH reported $107 million of tariff refunds received, worth about $1.80 a share. FLJ explains who can claim in IEEPA tariff refunds after Learning Resources v. Trump.
Who runs PVH and what is the PVH+ Plan?
Stefan Larsson is chief executive. He joined PVH as president in 2019 and became chief executive on the first day of fiscal 2021, after running Ralph Lauren Corporation from 2015 to 2017 and Old Navy before that. Lea Rytz Goldman is global brand president of Tommy Hilfiger and David Savman of Calvin Klein. In July 2026 PVH appointed Alexis Rollier, formerly finance chief at Sephora, as chief financial officer.
The PVH+ Plan is the multi-year strategy to make Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger “the most desirable lifestyle brands in the world”. It rests on five drivers: product, consumer engagement, a digitally led marketplace, a demand- and data-driven operating model, and cost efficiency. Marketing is the visible part, such as Tommy Hilfiger’s deal with Liverpool FC.
The results are mixed. Second-quarter 2026 revenue fell 3% to $2.097 billion, and PVH booked a $439 million non-cash goodwill impairment, leading to a GAAP loss of $2.23 a share. It recorded $480 million of impairments in the first quarter of 2025 as well. It reaffirmed its full-year outlook: revenue roughly flat and non-GAAP earnings of $11.80 to $12.10 a share. For why the trademark, not the factory, is what these groups really own, see the fashion brand is not the business.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Tommy Hilfiger?
PVH Corp. owns Tommy Hilfiger. It bought the company from funds affiliated with Apax Partners for about €2.2 billion ($3 billion), and the deal closed in May 2010. Tommy Hilfiger remains the brand’s Principal Designer.
Who owns Calvin Klein?
PVH Corp. It bought Calvin Klein, Inc. in a deal that closed in February 2003, then bought Warnaco, which held the Calvin Klein Jeans licence and owned Calvin Klein Underwear, in February 2013.
What does PVH stand for?
Phillips-Van Heusen. The company took that name in 1957, after its Van Heusen shirt brand, and changed it to PVH Corp. in 2011 to reflect how the business had changed.
Does PVH still own Van Heusen and IZOD?
No. PVH sold the IZOD, Van Heusen, ARROW and Geoffrey Beene trademarks to Authentic Brands Group in 2021 for about $220 million. It still licenses Van Heusen for some products, such as men’s dress shirts.
Is PVH banned from China?
Not banned. China placed PVH on its Unreliable Entity List in February 2025, which allows penalties such as fines or trade restrictions. PVH’s 2026 annual report says no measures had been imposed.
Who is the CEO of PVH?
Stefan Larsson, who joined as president in 2019 and became chief executive in 2021. He was previously president and chief executive of Ralph Lauren Corporation.
This article is general information about PVH Corp.’s brands and ownership, based on SEC filings, company releases and published reports as of October 2026. It is not legal or investment advice, and it makes no allegation beyond what the filings and authorities have stated.
FASHION LAW JOURNAL INSIDER
Join designers, brand founders and fashion lawyers who get the biggest brand battles, IP fights and career moves in fashion law, straight to their inbox.
