The Language of Calvin Klein Fall 2021 Ad Campaign

Review of Calvin Klein ‘The Language of Calvin Klein’ Fall 2021 Ad Campaign by Creative Director Cedric Murac with Photographer Renell Medrano with talent Jennie Kim, Dominic Fike, Kaia Gerber, Damson Idris, Deb Never, Moses Sumney, Francesca Scorsese

Calvin Klein seeks to merge body language and linguistic expression in the latest installment of their #mycalvins series for Fall 2021. “The Language of Calvin Klein” features photography and direction by Renell Medrano.

In typical CK fashion, the campaign features an international cast of diverse creatives: actor Damson Idris, singer-songwriter Deb Never, actor Francesca Scorsese, singer-songwriter Dominic Fike, singer and dancer Jennie of Blackpink, model Kaia Gerber, and singer-songwriter Moses Sumney. Across Medrano’s photographs, these personalities lounge in a range of minimalist Calvin Klein essentials, inhabiting familiar environments and feeling comfortable in their own bodies as they daydream.

Each star is also the subject of a brief snippet of short film which runs between thirty seconds and a minute. From the intimately relatable (Deb Never singing into a fan or Kaia Gerber oversharing to a stranger in public) to the abstractly artful (Moses Sumney meditatively guiding our experience of a sunset), they encompass a range of expression, giving us a unique window into the personality and perspective of each creative.

The campaign’s main event takes the shape of a video collage, inspired by found poetry, that stitches together elements of each individual video – but it doesn’t quite connect.

While the cinematography is thoughtful and intimate, and some of the reflections from the cast seem to hint at interesting ideas, the voice clips are a bit too vague on their own to actually form the emotional substance the film and its ambient soundtrack want us to feel.

Putting the definition of a found poem at the beginning of the film seems like a sneaky way to circumvent putting in the effort for narrative cohesion and consistency, but it doesn’t mean that what follows is automatically a found poem. And, in the attempt to unite the threads, their individual narratives are lost.

It’s a welcome development that Calvin Klein is moving past the simple sex appeal of hot celebrities in underwear and actually exploring their personalities, using the #mycalvins platform to explore genuine individuality and emotional narrative.

Each individual film is a welcome look into a unique creative perspective, as well as a smart way to connect fans of the different artists into the Calvin Klein fold. While the “found poem” film that combines them all doesn’t quite connect, it’s a smart attempt at uniting the chorus of voices – but they feel stronger on their own.