Brooke Shields, Sydney Sweeney, Katseye: the infamous denim ads that got people talking

Denim has been around for over 100 years, but the humble material has routinely sparked controversy in the fashion world when it comes to advertising.

Check out the most talked about jeans ads in history below!

BROOKS SHIELDS FOR CALVIN KLEIN

The most famous ad from the recent past featured a then 15-year-old Brooke Shields sporting Calvin Klein jeans and the tagline “You know what gets between me and my Calvin’s? Nothing.”

The 1980 ad sparked controversy for the suggestive tone and the teenaged model at the center of it.

Looking back on the ads, Shields admits she was naïve about the tone, but shrugged off any of the scrutiny she faced.

“The controversy backfired. The campaign was extremely successful, and then the underwear overtook the jeans,” Shields told Vogue in 2021. “[Calvin Klein] understood how to push the envelope. It set the tone for decades.”

NICK KAMEN FOR LEVI’S

In 1985, a hunky young man stepped into a laundromat to wash his clothes, stripping down to his boxers before throwing his jeans in the wash, all to the sound of Marvin Gaye’s “Heard it Through the Grapevine.”

It was an ad for Levi’s 501 jeans that got people talking. As fashion historian Tony Glenville told The Guardian, “It was massive and made it even into spoofs on comedy shows. It made a huge impact on sales and jeans sales generally.”

The ad had lasting impact too: Beyonce made an updated version in 2024 set to her song “Levii’s Jeans” from her “Cowboy Carter” album.

DIESEL’S 90s ERA ADS

Italian denim brand Diesel tackled sensitive or controversial subjects with their ads in the 90s, including showcasing to male sailors kissing in front of a battleship and a Black man diving into a pool in apartheid-era South Africa.

The ads were envisioned by Jocke Jonason, who told Dazed in 2017, “We believe that young people, like everybody else, are interested in politics, in life, in discussing things – so we challenged people’s minds. What we made was provocative, funny, but also intellectual – we more or less tried to pick up on the conversation that was going on in society around us and make art of it.”

SYDNEY SWEENEY FOR AMERICAN EAGLE

At this point, you’ve likely seen the controversial American Eagle ad starring Sydney Sweeney talking about genetics.

Sweeney lounges in denim, not unlike Shields, explaining, "genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue."

The tagline, "Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” has garnered controversy since its debut, with some feeling the ad promotes Nazi propaganda and eugenics.

American Eagle responded to the controversy in an Instagram post last week.

“‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans,” the statement read. “We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”

Sweeney has yet to comment publicly on the ad and controversy.

KATSEYE FOR GAP

Girl group Katseye scored another hit with their recent ad for Gap.

The ad features the girls dancing in a variety of denim styles to Kelis’ song “Milkshake” with the tagline “Better in Denim.”

People loved the ad for its simplicity and diversity, an apparent if unintentional response to the American Eagle ad.

“Gap didn’t ask us to fit in—they invited us to show up as we are,” the girl group said in a joint press statement, per Glamour. “The denim moved with us, and every look felt like our own. We got to perform as ourselves, bringing our style and culture to every frame. That’s what makes this moment so powerful.”