Jessica: The Face of Calvin

NEW YORK--Jessica Miller is getting a lot of face time this fall at Calvin Klein Inc. Multipage portfolios, shot for the second season by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, feature Miller in Collection, CK Jeans, Eyewear and Accessories."When you look at Jessica, she can be very glamorous and sophisticated and can look young, modern and playful," said Kim Vernon, who recently was named senior vice president of global advertising and communications at Calvin Klein Inc. "She has great potential because of her versatility, how flexible she is [physically and mentally] and how she participates in the creative. She really takes pleasure in the shoot."The 18-year-old Miller, who hails from Las Vegas, is currently under an exclusive contract to Klein. She also happens to be featured on the cover of the June/July French Vogue, with a fashion story shot by van Lamsweerde and Matadin.Klein's Collection ads for apparel, accessories and eyewear were shot on location in Paradise Valley, Ariz. The jeans campaign was shot in a New York studio. The male models are newcomer Raphi Kammer for Collection, and Travis, who recently made a name for himself as Klein's Underwear model, for jeans.One jeans spread, for example, features a sexy Miller in a short denim skirt and black long-sleeved shirt and black lace-up boots, next to an image of the model on the shoulders of a bare-chested Travis.One of the Collection ads shows Miller's more sophisticated side, with longer hair, black pants and a sexy sheer blouse, holding a Calvin Klein handbag, or wearing Calvin Klein Eyewear."We continued with a playful logo," said Vernon, describing the white brush strokes in the Collection logo. Before it was an etched design, she said. The jeans logo remains red, white and blue, but it's also brush-stroked.Collection ads were shot in color, and jeans remain black and white. The ads also have cutouts, which is a continuation from spring. The ads were art-directed by M/M, a Paris-based design agency, in conjunction with CRK Inc., Klein's in-house agency.A front gatefold will break in the August W, featuring Collection, CK Jeans and Calvin Klein Eyewear. In September, Vanity Fair will run a gatefold and spread (eight pages in all) featuring the women's and men's Collections, CK Jeans, Calvin Klein Eyewear and Accessories.Collection and/or CK Jeans ads will also appear in such magazines as V, Travel & Leisure, Harper's Bazaar, Town & Country, Elle, Details, Interview, Vogue, US Weekly, Blender, GQ, the New Yorker, CosmoGIRL! and Seventeen.While Vernon would not divulge the company's fall budget, she said it was flat to a year ago. For the second half of 2001, Calvin Klein spent about $7.6 million on U.S. media for women's and men's Collection, CK Jeans, Eyewear, Swimwear, Coats and Hosiery, according to CMR, a Taylor Nelson Sofres Co.Vernon said the company plans to run in excess of 3,000 ad pages globally in 2002. The ads will appear in 25 four- to 10-page portfolios in nine countries worldwide.Klein will also run his watch campaign, shot by van Lamsweerde and Matadin, in European magazines, featuring Miller and Travis with their hair messed up and wearing the watches. The imagesalso will be used for retail displays in U.S. stores.Outdoor advertising will be used in key markets for jeans, women's underwear and Klein's newest men's fragrance, Crave, said Vernon. Jeans ads will appear on a wall on the corner of Broadway and Houston in SoHo here; Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and newsstand kiosks in San Francisco. Outdoor advertising, including subway pillars and billboards, also will appear in such cities as Paris, Hamburg, Milan, Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong and Mexico City."