Because the universe has been just and kind this week, the brilliant film Moonlight has not only won the big Best Picture prize at last night's Academy Awards, but its leading men also star in Calvin Klein Underwear's newest ads released today.
In the campaign titled 'Revelation,' Best Supporting Actor winner Mahershala Ali and fellow cast mates Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes strike all manner of beautiful poses for photographer Willy Vanderperre.
And with that, we now know why Hibbert and Sanders were sitting front row at new chief creative officer Raf Simons' debut show during New York Fashion Week earlier this month. (The shoot took place in January.) Calvin Klein also dressed the two men, along with Rhodes and Supporting Actress nominee Naomie Harris for Oscar night.
Under Simons' new vision for the brand, the ads are meant to celebrate 'the revelatory performances in the film of the year.' Amen to that use of italics.
'It's an acknowledgement of remarkable actors who are revealing something important of being a man today in what they do,' Simons said in a statement to ELLE. Creative Director Pieter Mulier adds, 'Since the beginning, Calvin Klein's underwear imagery has always made big statements about masculinity; the performances of these actors in Moonlight affected us deeply and made big statements about masculinity in a different way. Somehow we wanted to bring the two together.'
Ali described the campaign as an extension of the work began in the film. 'Even after the performance is over, I realise that you still have to service it,' he said in an interview that accompanies the campaign on the Calvin Klein website.
'I'll be in a coffee shop and someone will come up to me and just open a vein…telling me how this struck a nerve for them, what their experience was. And I really try to be present for that. I'm really thankful for that.' And we're thankful for this campaign.
