It was 2010. The fashion world was used to scandals, but Calvin Klein—the man who practically invented the modern concept of "sexy"—managed to stop everyone in their tracks. He stepped out with Nick Gruber.
Nick was 20. Calvin was 67.
The math alone was enough to keep the tabloids fed for years. But it wasn't just the 47-year age gap that made people stare. It was the sheer, chaotic energy of the pairing. You had a billionaire titan of industry, a man known for his icy, minimalist perfection, suddenly attached to a former adult film star and ex-Army jock with a penchant for high-speed cars and public outbursts.
Honestly, it looked like a movie script that got rejected for being too unrealistic.
The Era of Excess and Lie Detectors
For two years, the Calvin Klein Nick Gruber relationship was the gravitational center of the New York social scene. They weren't just "dating"; they were everywhere. They were at the front row of fashion shows, at the most exclusive Hamptons parties, and jet-setting to Mexico on private planes.
Klein didn't just buy Gruber dinner. He bought him a $250,000 Bentley Supersport. He put him up in a New York penthouse.
But behind the velvet ropes, things were... intense.
Gruber later spilled a bunch of details that made the relationship sound less like a romance and more like a high-stakes psychological drama. He famously claimed that Calvin was so paranoid about infidelity that he actually forced Nick to take a polygraph test.
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Imagine that. You’re dating one of the most famous men on Earth, and instead of a relaxing weekend, you’re hooked up to a machine answering questions about where you were on Tuesday night.
"What kind of partner would make you take a lie detector test?" Gruber asked in a 2012 interview.
Apparently, a very wealthy and very insecure one.
Why Everyone Was Obsessed
People love a "fish out of water" story, and Nick Gruber was the ultimate version. He was a guy who, by his own admission, took Calvin Klein to McDonald's for the very first time. Think about that: the man who dressed the world's elite had never eaten a Big Mac until a 20-year-old model showed him the ropes.
Gruber claimed Klein tried to order his burger "medium-rare."
It’s these little humanizing (and slightly ridiculous) moments that made the Calvin Klein Nick Gruber saga so addictive to follow. It wasn't just about the money; it was the clash of two entirely different universes.
The Breakup and the "Tell-All" That Wasn't
The wheels started coming off in early 2012.
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Nick was arrested in April of that year for assault and cocaine possession. It was a messy, public downfall that even Calvin's PR team couldn't polish away. While Klein reportedly paid for Nick’s rehab, the romantic spark was effectively extinguished.
Then came the book.
Gruber started shopping around a memoir with the working title Obsession: My Life with Calvin Klein. The title was a cheeky nod to Klein’s famous fragrance, and publishers were reportedly ready to drop nearly $400,000 for the dirt. Nick promised to reveal "shocking" secrets. He talked about how the relationship felt "paternal" in the end.
But then, he suddenly pulled the plug.
He claimed he didn't want to hurt Calvin. He said he was a "good person" and that money didn't matter. Some skeptics wondered if a quiet settlement or a non-disclosure agreement played a role, but the book never hit the shelves.
Where Are They Now? (The 2026 Perspective)
Fast forward to today. The landscape has changed quite a bit.
Calvin Klein is now 83. He’s been in a long-term, much more low-profile relationship with model Kevin Baker since roughly 2016. They’re seen at lunch dates in Los Angeles or the occasional gala, looking far more settled than the "Nick years." Calvin seems to have traded the high-drama headlines for a quieter brand of luxury.
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Nick Gruber's path has been much more turbulent. After the split, he hopped between various ventures and relationships, including a stint with the grand-nephew of a famous mobster. More recently, news surfaced that he had become a "nightmare tenant" in Northern California, struggling with the aftermath of his 15 minutes of fame.
It’s a classic cautionary tale of the "toy boy" archetype.
When you’re young and the world's most powerful people are handing you the keys to a Bentley, it’s easy to think the party never ends. But for Nick, once the association with the Klein brand was gone, the invitations stopped coming.
The Takeaway: More Than Just a Scandal
Looking back at the Calvin Klein Nick Gruber era, it’s easy to dismiss it as a mid-life (or late-life) crisis for the designer. But it actually marked a shift in how we view celebrity "muses."
It showed the power imbalance that often exists in these high-profile age-gap relationships, where the younger partner is often "educated" and "molded" by the older one, only to find themselves adrift when the relationship ends.
If you're fascinated by this era of fashion history, here is what you should actually look into to get the full picture:
- Read the 2012 Page Six Magazine interview: This is where Nick gives the most unfiltered (and slightly boastful) account of their time together.
- Compare with Kevin Baker: Look at the way the media treats Calvin's current relationship versus the Gruber years. It's a masterclass in how "stability" is marketed in the celeb world.
- Study the "Brand of Calvin": Notice how the brand actually thrived on the "bad boy" image of its founder during those years. The controversy didn't hurt the bottom line; if anything, it kept the name Calvin Klein in the mouth of every person under 30.
The story of Nick and Calvin isn't just about a breakup. It's about what happens when the curated perfection of a fashion empire meets the messy, unpredictable reality of a person who refuses to follow the script.