looking back

I found the above image quite by accident when I stumbled upon http://pobox.upenn.edu/~davidtoc/calvin.html. It's an unofficial archive of Calvin Klein advertising images, and I have to say, it really took me back to the times where the world was in thrall of minimalism. I'm actually kind of wistful, maybe because this was around the time I started buying fashion magazines and I feel a thrill in recognising them and remembering the impact they had on me. It sounds so dreary when people describe 90s' minimalism but I find it all rather poetic in its own way, and I still do. The ones below are particularly striking. It's equal parts, cool, chic, street, refined, and utterly timeless. I find them original because even now when you look at them, you still feel like you want to be part of that group - interesting, unique individuals who seem to be leading interesting lives. Not all ads conjure that kind of feeling (I can only think of the Tom Ford for Gucci ads in the roughly the same era), and the Calvin Klein ads these days certainly don't do that.






Once a upon a time I knew what the world of Calvin Klein stood for, but these days I'm not sure anymore.


Pictures from http://pobox.upenn.edu/~davidtoc/calvin.html