In the UK, the latest Calvin Klein ad featuring FKA twigs is banned for showing more skin than garment. But, the British singer does not see why she is a “stereotypical sexual object”

British singer FKA twigs in the latest Calvin Klein ad that is unwelcomed in the UK. Photo: fkatwigs/Instagram

The American fashion brand Calvin Klein is, if course, no stranger to controversy when it comes to their advertising images. You’d think that by now, forty two years after Brazilian pole-jumper Tom Hintnaus’s traffic-stopping 1982 billboard ad of him in nothing but a pair of the brand’s Y-front or 32 years after Kate Moss signed with the label for a series of campaigns (including poses for their underwear collection, cK Jeans, and Obsession fragrance) that led to images described as “heroine chic”, Calvin Klein has done it all. Or, that we would have, therefore, seen in these years all the possibly outrageous photos that were taken, plastered, and shared. Apparently not. The New York-based brand’s somewhat old campaign with British singer FKA twigs has aroused disapproval from the United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Apparently, her pose with just an unbuttoned shirt was not decorous enough.

The black-and-white photograph, shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, captured her in a somewhat girly-sultry pose, with the shirt (presumably denim) worn, but barely. Parts of her right breast and her right rump are clearly seen, but there is nothing more vulgar here than what some other singers wear to award nights, such as the Grammys. Yes, she is in a state of undress, but she does not look like she has been coerced to embrace such scantiness. “i do not see the ‘stereotypical sexual object’ that they have labelled me,” she wrote on Instagram, dropping capital letters, as she does with her second name. But, two individuals did see; they were so deeply irked by the image that they kvetch to the authorities. ASA reacted quickly. In a statement quoted by the British press, the regulatory body said the image “placed viewers’ focus on the model’s body rather than on the clothing being advertised”. In 2024, this is visually offensive? More than Bianca Censori? We have moved from exposing the bra to baring the breast. For many people, this is progress.

Reacting to the ban on IG, FKA twigs wrote—somewhat defiantly—that “i see a beautiful strong woman of colour whose incredible body has overcome more pain than you can imagine.” She also elucidated that the standard she embraced was akin to those of “women like josephine baker, eartha kitt and grace jones who broke down barriers of what it looks like to be empowered and harness a unique embodied sensuality.” She called the ASA action “double standard”, possibly in reference to the acceptable, even raved, use of American actor Jeremy Allen White, who was recently practically naked in the ads, as he tried to convince viewers that Calvin Klein skivvies are attractive and sexy. We have always known that Calvin Klein is more concerned with selling the brand than the products. The merchandise matter less than augmenting the name, which means that the pairing with FKA twigs was more than just (near-)naked marketing. It was the elevation to cool by association. And FKA twigs happily obliged.