Calvin Klein, the designer who popularised the "heroin chic" look with gaunt, skinny and sullen models, has unveiled a new marketing campaign filled with cheerful 20-somethings frolicking together in the great outdoors. His new magazine adverts and posters will feature models having fun together, instead of staring disconsolately. Klein was attacked on both sides of the Atlantic for encouraging drug-taking and anorexia. "The real big change for me is that I feel everything is prettier, healthier, cleaner, attractive," he told the New York Times. "It's no longer the downtown, hip kind of thing."The changes will be visible throughout the Calvin Klein empire, which sold $4.4 billion of products around the world last year. The new upbeat approach will be applied to marketing of products ranging from the top of the line Collection clothing to the mid-line CK sportswear, Calvin Klein jeans, and licensed merchandise such as eye wear, home furnishings, shoes and watches.
Other designers have beaten CalvinKlein to the punch on the more positive look, notably Tommy Hilfiger, which employs well-scrubbed models cuddling each other. Others celebrating the cheerful trend include Abercrombie & Fitch, and Gap.
"It seems we're in a very positive state of mind right now," said Sam Shahid, president and creative director at the advertising firm, Shahid & Company. "The economy is good. People are having a good time, so we try and have a good time."
The new Calvin Klein adverts show models hiking or walking in the woods. One shows model Christy Turlington playing tug of war. In another, youngsters lie on a pier in their socks and underwear. There is even an advert of men helping to load potatoes on to a lorry. In another departure, Turlington and Kate Moss, the other big name Calvin Klein model, will appear together in adverts for the first time. In one, Moss wears a revised version of the 1970s Klein jeans introduced by Brooke Shields.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
