Brooke Shields says she was ‘naive’ about the double entendre she uttered in her iconic 1980 Calvin Klein commercial when she was just 15 — and dismisses the critics who ‘berated’ her and assumed she knowingly delivered the sexual message as ‘ridiculous.’
In the commercial, one of several that Brooke, now 56, filmed with legendary photographer Richard Avedon for Calvin Klein, the then-teen posed in a pair of blue jeans and said, ‘You wanna know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.
In a new interview with Vogue, Brooke said she was very ‘protected’ and ‘didn’t think it was sexual in nature’ — so she was ‘shocked’ when the media went crazy for it, accusing her of utilizing a control of her sexuality that she didn’t posses.
She said, “I think the assumption was that I was more savvy than I really was.”
“It didn’t bother me. [The line]She said that it didn’t “sort of” come into her psyche as anything sexual or sexualized.
Brooke Shields, 56 is an icon. She rose to stardom in 1980 when she starred in a series Calvin Klein commercials.
Famous: She said the most famous one, which was banned in some parts of the world, “You wanna know what happens between me and my Calvins?” Nothing.
Chill: Brooke claims she was’very secure’ and a ‘naivety’ about the double-entendre. ‘I thought it had to do underwear,’ she said.
Brooke recalled how Calvin Klein approached her mother, Teri Shields, about getting Brooke in the ads, and she was just so excited for the opportunity.
“When I was 15 years old, I didn’t really understand Calvin Klein. It was more about Richard Avedon coming over to my mom and saying, “We’re doing a series very unique commercials,”’ she said.
“The shoot itself, nobody was allowed to be on the set. Avedon’s first venture into the commercial world, I think. He was nervous, I think. She remembered that the stakes were high and that there was a lot pressure.
“The choreography was precise and deliberate. Every bit of it,’ she said, referring to a pose in which she had a particular one. Kneel on the ground, one knee resting on her leg, the other on her foot, and her other foot up.
“I was so proud that they trusted me with something that involved acting and not just the visual. It was either going to strike and become part of the zeitgeist, or it wasn’t,’ she stated.
They shot several different ads, including the one that would go on to jump start her career — because of the implication that she wasn’t wearing underwear with her jeans.
She stated, “I was just so proud they were trusting in me with something that involved both acting and just the visual.”
She admitted that she was naive. It had nothing to do underwear. It wasn’t sexual in nature, I thought.
She admitted that she was naive. “I didn’t believe it had anything to do with underwear. It was not sexual in nature. I would also say that my sister is my best friend.
She continued, “If they had intended to use the double entendre they didn’t explain that to me,” she said. It didn’t seem to bother me. It didn’t come into my consciousness as anything sexual or sexualized.
Brooke stated that she had actually a ‘disassociation’ and ‘compartmentalization’ with her own sexuality, despite becoming a sex symbol at age 15.
In the same year, she also starred in Blue Lagoon, an R-rated film. She revealed that she had a bodydouble for the movie.
But though Brooke wasn’t thinking that she was talking about going commando, the public certainly did — and the backlash was swift.
‘I was not there when they came out. Then I heard, “Oh, Canada has banned the commercials.” And [there were]Paparazzi and people shouting at me, screaming at my mother, “How could you?” It struck me as ridiculous, the whole thing,” she said.
Brooke’s mother was the manager and Brooke coordinated Brooke in the campaign (pictured in 1981).
Not nice: Brooke was ‘shocked’ that people would ‘berate’ her over the sexy ad, assuming she ‘was much more savvy than I ever really was’
“I was a kid. And I was naive. She said that I was a very secure, sequestered young lady in a bubble that my mom was just playing with me outside of.
“Oh, you knew that this was happening.” This was what shocked me. This is what you thought. These thoughts were yours.
“I was a kid. And I was naive. She said that I was a very secure, sequestered young lady in a bubble that my mom was just playing with me outside of.
She continued, “I think the assumption was that I was more savvy than ever I really was.”
This felt especially true when she would be interviewed by journalists, whom she said would start with feigning that they would ‘respect’ her because she was young before seeming to try to catch her out.
It would be really condescending. Then it would go from condescending to, “Oh, no, I mean you know.” She recalled, “And you’d just see them spin their personalities out-of-control.”
She said that it felt like they didn’t really want her to answer their questions because she kept asking them the same question hoping for an alternate answer.
Compartmentalizing
It seemed even stranger to her that she was called a coquette after talking about being a virgin publicly.
Later, she would confess that she had sex at 22.
“I was a virgin and I was a virgin for all eternity.” That was the hook that people fell for, as I was open about not losing my virginity.
“It was odd that I could change from,” says ‘I always thought it strange that I could swap from. [being perceived as]This all-knowing, coquettish, knows what she’s talking about, she’s playing it and then suddenly I’m the most famous famous version in the entire world.
Brooke admitted that she can now see that the ads were sexual.
“At 56, you can look back at your camera, “Well, it zooming in?” Yes, it does zoom in on my crotch and then it comes up to my face. She said that sex has been sold since the dawn time.
“Every single cover that I’ve ever been on, no matter how old I am, there’s something in my eyes.
Rude: Despite not being bothered by the sexuality of her ads she called out ‘condescending interviewers’ who projected narratives onto her
Brooke previously stated that she was a virgin from 22 to 22 and that it was absurd that she could be both a virgin and an ‘all-knowing cockquette’.
“Now, I see my teens with different body images, different fears, and different insecurities,” she said. (pictured in September along with Grier Henchy).
She believes that the backlash against the ads has also backfired.
She stated that the campaign was extremely successful. They were able to tap into the appeal that it has. They knew what was at stake. It set the tone for decades, I believe.
“On one hand, I don’t think you can get away with a lot more than I did in ’80s, but on the same token, so many more things are being done now that we could ever have imagined.
“And there is an assimilation in sexuality now that I certainly did not have when I was 15” Now, I see my teens with different body images, different fears, and different insecurities.
“We were pretty protected against a lot back then. I appreciate being protected in my naiveté, because I feel as if I was relatively unscathed.
Brooke seems content with her career decision and the way it propelled her to superstardom, regardless of the controversy.
Calvin Klein told her recently that his career and life were transformed by her campaign.
She said, “It put Calvin on top in a very unique way.” He said, “You changed the course and trajectory of my life” and I agreed. I responded, “You did my job.”