Francisco Costa.

The respective heads of Calvin Klein's womenswear and menswear clothing lines are leaving the label as part of its new strategy to unify the two entities. 

According to a statement from the brand, the move is part of the company's global evolution to build itself into a $10 billion global retail sales business. It said: “A new brand direction will ultimately follow one creative vision across all categories of the business. An announcement will be made in due course.”

Italo Zucchelli.

“This creative strategy marks the beginning of another significant chapter in Calvin Klein's brand legacy since Mr. Klein's retirement,” said Steve Shiffman, CEO of Calvin Klein. “I would like to thank Francisco and Italo for their unwavering commitment to the Calvin Klein brand and their accomplishments over the past decade. They have both contributed immensely to making Calvin Klein a global leader in the fashion industry, and they have done so with dedication, focus and creativity.”

In the absence of a head designer, the brand's in-house teams are expected to create its upcoming collections, which will be showcased as presentations instead of catwalk shows.

Brazilian designer Costa joined Calvin Klein in 2001, following stints at Oscar de la Renta and Gucci, where he worked under Tom Ford. He became creative director of the women's collection in 2003 following founder Calvin Klein's retirement, and has collected multiple accolades throughout his career, including winning the Council of Fashion Designers America (CFDA) award for Womenswear Designer of the Year in 2006 and 2008.

Italian Zucchelli began his design journey as an architecture student, before switching over to fashion and working at Jil Sander, moving to Calvin Klein, where he was made creative director of the menswear division in 2004.

The news is the latest major shakeup in a string of overhauls to the fashion industry over the past year — starting with Alexander Wang's departure from Balenciaga last summer. Since then a plethora of high-profile designers including Hedi Slimane, Alber Elbaz and Raf Simons, who is rumored to be a major candidate for the new Calvin Klein job, have left their respective positions at Saint Laurent, Lanvin and Dior respectively.