Calvin Klein and the Birth of Designer Denim

In the late 1970s, Calvin Klein joined a wave of designers—Gloria Vanderbilt and Jordache among them—who put their names on the back pockets of fitted jeans and sold them at a premium. In 1980 he hired the photographer Richard Avedon to shoot a series of television commercials starring the fifteen-year-old actress Brooke Shields. In the most famous, she asks, 'You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.' The spots debuted in November 1980; several New York stations refused to air them, and critics accused the campaign of sexualizing a child. The controversy became publicity, and sales climbed. Designer denim became one of the defining fashion categories of the decade, and the back pocket—not the front of the garment—became some of the most valuable real estate in fashion.