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Yesterday, Calvin Klein announced that its longtime creative director of womenswear, Francisco Costa, would be exiting the brand as part of a larger creative shift across the company. And while many of the industry's recent designer departures have come as a shock — Alber Elbaz's dismissal from Lanvin and Raf Simons' exit from Dior immediately spring to mind — Costa's farewell is particularly sad for red carpet-watchers everywhere.
Costa first joined Calvin Klein in 2003 — and ever since, he's done a brilliant job at dressing stylish celebrities who are on the verge of becoming superstars. Who could forget Jennifer Lawrence's smoking-hot red Oscars dress from the year she was nominated for Winter's Bone? How about the lovely lemon number Scarlett Johansson wore to the 2004 Met Gala, mere months after Lost in Translation hit theaters? Or the quicksilver gown Diane Kruger, a star Costa began dressing around the time of her breakthrough role in 2009's Inglorious Basterds, wore to the Cannes Film Festival?
What's more, all the dresses Costa created for these stars had one thing in common: simplicity. There were no prints, no patterns, and relatively few bells and whistles, even when sequins or beadwork were involved. The focus always remained on each dress' flawless fit — and, more importantly, on the woman wearing it.
Click through the gallery above to revisit 40 of Francisco Costa's greatest red carpet hits from his time at Calvin Klein.