When
I opened the September issue of Vanity Fair I nearly fell out of my chair and
smacked my precious head. Was I delirious,
or did I just see Djimon Hounsou’s package? Nope, it was his package alright. Right dab in the front of the
magazine’s 415 page annual style edition. In last month’s Critical Analysis
I described a Calvin Klein ad as “boring and uninteresting” and inferred that the
brand was losing its edge. I must recant
that statement after seeing this three-page spread (inside cover) featuring
Hounsou endorsing the new CK underwear line, Steel.
Okay, so it might not be so unpredictably provocative to see male models in tightie whities plastered all over the pages of a fashion magazine. But I remember a time when the closest thing to a black man in an underwear ad was Shemar Moore striking a pose for the occasional Undergear catalogue, and that’s just about as authentic as…uhhmm… Shemar Moore hosting SoulTrain. So it’s not a far stretch to conclude that the only thing mainstream culture finds more intimidating or overly fantasized than a black man is an African man. That’s why I was both surprised and delighted to see Hounsou in this position (so to speak). It looks like Calvin Klein might be forward thinking after all.
The above image is just part of the spread. To see the conversation piece you’ll just have to go out and buy your own copy. LOL.
[photo credit: Peter Lindbergh for Calvin Klein]
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