From Kate Moss’s 90s billboards to Bad Bunny in cotton stretch briefs, Calvin Klein (CK)’s advertising hall of fame is defined by two things: big stars and provocative imagery.
Its Spring 2026 campaign leans back on this time-tested formula, showing a day in the life of Dakota Johnson.
The campaign, directed and photographed by Gordon von Steiner, opens with the actress at home wearing CK underwear, discussing a script with an off-camera guest. Dakota is then shown playing pool topless while wearing a CK thong, lounging by the pool, covering her breasts with items like pomegranates and milk jugs, and perched on top of a piano wearing just jeans.
The minute-long spot is soundtracked by the 1972 track “Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)” by The Hollies. It’s accompanied by photos showing Johnson in the same scenarios.
In a press release, CK said the push was designed to “navigate between subtle sensuality and cheeky humor, removing excess to focus on Calvin Klein’s latest denim fits and underwear innovations.”
The promotion launched globally on March 9 across CK retail sites, its website, and on social platforms. It will also run across in high-profile out-of-home placements, said the brand.
“Calvin Klein jeans and underwear have a timeless quality that makes everything feel right the moment you put them on. When a woman is alone at home, working, reading or doing whatever, it can feel quite liberating and sensual,” Fifty Shades of Grey actor Johnson said in a statement.
She added: “Channelling that, and pairing that energy with Calvin Klein’s iconography, felt both singular and classic. I love that this campaign celebrates being comfortable, free and sexy on your own terms. Sometimes, a woman just being is the sexiest thing.
Celebs and their Calvins
New York label CK is known for its controversial, sexually suggestive photoshoots.
It first brought this style of campaign market in 1980 with a campaign starring then-15-year-old model Brooke Shields, who recited the tagline: “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.”
Since then, celebrities including BTS’ Jung Kook, Rosalía, Bad Bunny, Kate Moss, Mark Wahlberg, and Kendall Jenner have fronted similar ads.
