Calvin Klein launched his jeans line in 1978, becoming the first high-fashion designer to introduce a diffusion denim line. By 1979, the company had sold $70 million worth of women’s jeans.
In 1980, Klein cast Brooke Shields in a number of overtly sexy print ads and commercials shot by Richard Avedon. In one ad, Shields asks, “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” The commercial was promptly banned by ABC and CBS in New York — for insinuating that Shields wasn't wearing any underwear.
The jeans featured a distinctive stitch pattern on the back along with a Calvin Klein label that distinguished them as a “designer” status symbol.
The style was so tight that stores, such as The French Jean Store in Manhattan, brought in a sofa so customers could lie down while they tried to zip up their jeans.
Klein reportedly came up with the idea to start a jeans line at Studio 54, where Elio Fiorucci’s skin-tight “Safety Jeans” were extremely popular.
When asked about his marketing approach, Klein famously declared, “Jeans are sex.” He added, “The tighter they are, the better they sell.”
In 1980, Klein cast Brooke Shields in a number of overtly sexy print ads and commercials shot by Richard Avedon. In one ad, Shields asks, “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” The commercial was promptly banned by ABC and CBS in New York — for insinuating that Shields wasn't wearing any underwear.
The jeans featured a distinctive stitch pattern on the back along with a Calvin Klein label that distinguished them as a “designer” status symbol.
The style was so tight that stores, such as The French Jean Store in Manhattan, brought in a sofa so customers could lie down while they tried to zip up their jeans.
Klein reportedly came up with the idea to start a jeans line at Studio 54, where Elio Fiorucci’s skin-tight “Safety Jeans” were extremely popular.
When asked about his marketing approach, Klein famously declared, “Jeans are sex.” He added, “The tighter they are, the better they
This week, The Museum at FIT opens “Denim: Fashion’s Frontier,” a show dedicated to the history of jeans. Among the pieces on view — which include everything from 19th-century patchwork to embroidered Levi’s from the 1960s — are the Calvin Klein jeans Brooke Shields wore in 1980, at age 15, when she famously said: “What gets between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” In honor of the exhibition, the museum’s Assistant Curator of Costume, Emma McClendon, breaks down the famous pair. Hover over the points above to learn more.
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