Calvin Klein Underwear was once synonymous with sexy and suggestive ads. (We need not remind you of the iconic images of Mark Wahlberg in his tighty-whities or a topless Kate Moss, recently re-created by Justin Bieber and Lara Stone.) But for spring '16, the brand has surpassed itself with the latest campaign.
In the NSFW images, which were shot by Harley Weir, the brand is going to back to its raunchier, more suggestive roots of past underwear ads. Kendall Jenner squeezes a juicy grapefruit in one shot and seductively strokes a rosebud with her lips in another. There's also an upskirt shot of actress Klara Kristin, a hand-to-crotch shot of Abbey Lee Kershaw, and a scantily clad Saskia de Brauw cuddling a lamb (as one does).
Characteristic of past Calvin Klein Underwear campaigns, the clothing is secondary to the shots's provocative poses. The brand explained in a release that the images "capture the current youth culture zeitgeist." As such, some of the accompanying slogans read: "I pulse in #mycalvins," "I belfie in #mycalvins," and "I flash in #mycalvins." So, it's not exactly about subtlety, either.
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Since the images were released, the campaign has stirred up a storm on social media (as expected). Some deemed the images gratuitous, excessive, and even offensive — and those are just the comments on Instagram. But anyone who has followed the brand (or at least remembers the Mark and Kate shot from 1992) knows that the sexy and sometimes controversial ads are pretty much in its DNA.
Still, has Calvin Klein Underwear gone too far with the (quite literally) fruity image of Jenner squeezing a vaginal-looking grapefruit next to the caption "I eat in #mycalvins," or the upskirt image, which is somewhat reminiscent of crass American Apparel ads? All eyes on to see if the campaign gets banned (particularly that shot of Jenner and the grapefruit), stateside or elsewhere.