Calvin Klein does complete 180 from height of woke era with sexy new ad campaign

Sadie Sink pulls on a pair of Calvin Klein jeans in a new ad campaign.

Calvin Klein, the fashion brand that drove American style for decades, is out with a new ad campaign that is a total reversal from the type of ads the brand was putting out just a few years ago.

The new “Feel the Fit” campaign, featuring 24-year-old actress Sadie Sink and 23-year-old singer-songwriter Tate McRae, is major departure from the ads the company leaned into at the height of the woke era. Quite literally, the campaign puts traditionally objective ideas of sexiness and beauty that made Calvin Klein one of the most recognizable fashion brands in America and around the world decades ago front and center again.

The new ads mark a sharp departure from Calvin Klein's woke ads that were put out as recently as 2023. Those ad campaigns raised eyebrows when they featured overweight people and a man with a beard and breasts, who identified as a woman, wearing women's underwear. Many at the time, and today, accused Calvin Klein of virtue signaling and bowing to woke pressure.

The ads starring Sink and McRae hearken back to the “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing” TV and print ad campaign for its jeans starring Brooke Shields in the 1980s. McRae is seen in the new ads wearing Calvin Klein underwear, putting on a pair of jeans and striking several seductive poses. There is plenty of booty-shaking in the ads featuring McRae. 

Similarly, a 30-second spot starring Sink shows the actress in her underwear before she grabs a pair of jeans. The camera focuses in on her hips as she shimmies the jeans up past her crotch, zips up and buttons them before she shows how the pants flatter her backside. In another longer ad, Sink does her fair share of booty-shaking as well after she gets her pair of jeans on.

Observers on social media have taken note of the ads, pointing out how different they are from Calvin Klein's ads from just a few years ago. Many on social media, showing photos of Calvin Klein ads from the early 1990s featuring Mark Walbergh and Kate Moss, viewed the new ad campaign as a "back to normal" moment for the iconic fashion brand. Others took the new ad campaign as a sign that "nature is healing." In fact, Calvin Klein ran a series of seductive ads for its women's underwear and jeans earlier this year featuring actress Dakota Johnson in various states of undress, and the brand ran men's underwear ads featuring Brazillian soccer player Raphinha that showed off his six-pack abs in addition to the boxer briefs.

Below, watch one of the ads featuring McRae.