UNLOCKED - Calvin Klein | Clapboard Ad Archive

Calvin Klein’s Fall 2019 campaign Unlocked in #MYCALVINS repositions the brand’s handbag collection at the center of its fashion narrative, enlisting global supermodel Irina Shayk and deploying the full force of high-art visuals to capture the essence of modern sensuality and feminine power. Created for the United States market and published in 2019 by the agency Image Work, the campaign leverages the high-profile absence of Calvin Klein’s women’s ready-to-wear at New York Fashion Week Spring 2020 to spotlight accessories as true statement pieces, and does so with a visual language as uncompromising as it is unmistakably luxurious. Shayk, known for her commanding presence and intensity, appears unclothed except for the new line of archive-inspired handbags, with the collection’s centerpiece—a series of bags featuring lock hardware and separate keys—positioned as both a literal and conceptual symbol of empowerment, self-expression, and personal freedom. Calvin Klein’s creative approach translates the physical attributes of its product into a metaphor for emotional and psychological unlocking, a distinctive move that lands squarely within what Clapboard classifies as FORMAT#9—Symbolize the Benefit, where the handbag shifts from an accessory to a talismanic amplifier of inner confidence and unapologetic authenticity. The campaign eschews overt product demonstration or narrative storytelling, favoring instead a visual metaphor—nudity as purity and boldness, the handbag as conduit—that dramatizes the emotional benefit in a single frame, a choice reinforced by the art-photographic aesthetic of Inez and Vinoodh. This creative direction successfully synchronizes with Calvin Klein’s digital-first strategy, amplifying reach and resonance, as evidenced by the campaign’s significant YouTube viewership and its seamless extension across the brand’s social platforms, further embedding the collection into the contemporary fashion discourse. Set against a minimal backdrop, every image distills the Calvin Klein ethos: directness, sensuality, and an unwavering belief in the woman as the source of her own power, with the brand’s archive heritage and modern aspirations colliding in a campaign that feels both intimate and iconic. The campaign earns 63/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. At a moment when the fashion industry is redefining the purpose and visibility of product categories, Unlocked in #MYCALVINS demonstrates that when accessories are entrusted with the brand’s core message, they can become emblems of cultural and personal transformation.