Calvin's New Gender Benders

Manly shapes, white waistbands and a controversial fly

For decades women have raided men's wardrobes for their own clothing, appropriating everything from combat fatigues to tailored shirts. The current dress-for-success fad demands conservative suits for the office, and designers such as Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren create unstructured blazers and oversized jackets for the more stylish. Just when it seemed that there was nothing left in the masculine closet to imitate, Designer Calvin Klein has made a new raid: women's underwear boldly based on men's models. Women's Wear Daily is declaring it a hit. The collection, predicts the paper, will be "the hottest look in women's lingerie since the bikini brief."

The four varieties of tops and eight bottoms have a distinctively athletic flair. They are made of 100% knit cotton, come in 24 colors, and are modestly priced from $6 to $12. The ribbed tank tops and T shirts are available in shades that would please the Dallas Cowboys: athletic gray and olive drab. Although the bikini briefs are cut femininely high on the thigh, they sport a white elastic waistband emblazoned with the designer's name, just like men's models. And the string bikini, even in deep hues of jade or saffron, bears an uncanny resemblance to an athletic supporter. "Lingerie is a term of the past," says Klein. "It's just underwear."

It is just a little strange too. The boxer shorts for women look like standard Fruit of the Looms at first glance. Although they have more feminine lines and come in black and pink as well as white, the boxers retain the essential feature of masculine design: a fly. Klein had considered omitting the detail, but, says he: "It's sexier with the fly. These things are seriously thought out."

Buyers from major department stores were wowed by Klein's deep-think. I. Magnin stopped the presses on its Christmas catalogue to include a full page of the line. Says Catherine di Montezemolo, a vice president of Lord & Taylor: "It's a gut feeling, but I don't see how it can miss." In November Lord & Taylor will display the undies in two locations in its Fifth Avenue store: lingerie and the Klein boutique. New York City-based Bloomingdale's is planning to overhaul areas of its intimate-apparel departments to feature the collection. But Vice President Kal Ruttenstein predicts that the briefs and boxers will be worn outside too, for sports and at the beach. Says he: "It will bring women's underwear into the '90s."

Klein is betting that the look women want is one of robust health and fitness, regardless of the gender of origin. He is, after all, a winner in the designer-jeans sweepstakes. Remember Brooke Shields' line three years ago, "Do you want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing." By November, when his line of undies hits the stores, the answer will be: one more pair of Calvins. sb This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.