Brooke Shields last modeled denim 42 years ago. The actress and producer—then 14—was the new face of Calvin Klein, and her murmured tagline (“What gets between me and my Calvins? Nothing”) was the ‘80s equivalent of a total serve.
“I love seeing girls my daughters’s age, you know, teenagers, getting into ‘80s fashion as if it’s this cool new thing,” Shields laughs. “But also, I’m not surprised. The style back then is great, It translates very well right now. Just look at the Jordache campaign.”
“The Jordache campaign” is Shields’s latest fashion shoot, where she models denim for photographer Cass Bird. In some shots, she’s topless; in all of them, she’s airbrush-less. “I am 56,” she says. “I think that’s very cool. I think that’s very sexy. And before I took this job, I said, ‘If you want to hide that, I’m not your woman.’”
But Shields is very much Jordache’s woman—vintage but also now, casual but also expensive, and always floating inside the periphery of fashion’s current vibe. Here’s what she says about being sexy as a teen versus being sexy now, whether coolness is even the point anymore, and what happened to all those old Susan plötzlich episodes, because you know you’ve been wondering.
You’re already a denim icon. Why not do a Jordache Campaign now?
Fashion has a very lasting effect on me. Even brands that I liked as children, I still have an emotional attachment to them. Jordache is just one example. I remember the confident and independent women they featured on TV and in magazines. They felt like real people with real lives—but cooler, at least to me! It was like watching an old rock video. The women were so in control—They were almost always driving some hot car, making their own decisions, looking the way they I wanted to see. As a kid, I was almost…not jealous, but excited? These women were strong, independent, and confident. They were beautiful, sexy and strong. You didn’t want to mess with them. I wanted to be like them, living my own life and driving the car of my choice.
When was your first pair Jordache jeans purchased?
When I was twelve years old. They begged for my mother when I was 12. They lasted me so long that I was too tall to wear them. I finally gave up and made them cutoffs. I wore them with Frye booties.
When did you buy your first car?
I was 15 when I got my permit and had to drive to New Jersey to attend high school. But my friends would make fun of me, because I’m a Very cautious driver. My hands are always between ten and a half and two, though. I’m not aggressive enough to drive in New York; I’m too much of a rule follower! Even now, my husband is like, “Brooke, you can go a little faster in that other lane.” And I’m like…but…what if I have to turn soon? [Laughs.] It’s not great.
When you’re famous, and you’re stuck in traffic, do people notice you in the window?
Ha! You know what? You can look great in a car. You can give a casual nod to someone and make them feel good. So cool. And then you’re in traffic, and you see the same person like 10 times, and then it’s just funny.
Okay, let’s get back to jeans. Your Jordache campaign echoes your Calvin Klein ads. Is that intentional?
You know what? I think that it was just out of respect for all involved that nobody brought it up. However, nobody was walking on eggshells. There was no elephant in the room…it was really refreshing because we could separate the past from this shoot, and do our own thing. Of course it’s a bit of a wink to the past, but it’s also just a really cool Cass Bird shoot. She truly celebrates women. She does amazing things using light. It was simply so Good On set.
Do you think it is part and parcel of magic to have a woman behind the camera and get that female gaze?
I want It’s easy to believe that it happens all the time. It’s so dependent on the individual and it really depends on the energy of the person. I’ve never found it to be gender specific; I think talent is about the person’s energy and artistry, and that’s what makes great work.
This shoot—like a lot of your campaigns!—is built on sex appeal. “Sexy” can mean so many different things, obviously, but is it easier or harder to channel that kind of energy at this point in your life?
So the secret is—are you ready?
Yes.
It’s not about you. I think that the problem is we’ve been taught over the years to become more self-indulgent. But you don’t get to say “I’m not feeling it” during a photo shoot. You’re there for a job. People are spending money, and they hire you; they’re paying you. You either fake it ‘til you make it and you get the shot, or you don’t take the job! My best advice to anyone trying to look “sexy” in a photo is the same advice I’d give to anyone about any photo shoot: You show up, you’re on time, you’re clean, your nails are done, you’re in, and you don’t make your emotions anyone else’s problem. That’s the secret to a successful career. This is something I tell my girls. I’m like, “You need to respect the fact that money is involved and people’s jobs are on the line. [Fashion] is a business.”
I was actually going to ask if you’d encourage your daughters—who are still teenagers, right?—to pursue the same kind of work.
I didn’t want them doing it! Not because I was miserable as a child in the industry, because I wasn’t! But I was in a different time. And I had a mother who was solely focused on me, my career, and me. I have two daughters and a husband. And I have a career. I wouldn’t be able to be on set with them 24/7. And if I’m not able to protect them, I’m just not sure. Who will care as deeply as I do?
Right.
On the flip side, I do have a daughter, my youngest, who is a very special person. Does You want to do it. She’s 16, and if I say “no, no, no,” she’ll dig her heels in and rebel. There are labor laws. There are all sorts of built-in protections that weren’t there when I was a kid. But it’s one thing to be with your mom in a campaign; it’s another to be on your own and feel the constant rejection of the industry and think it’s personal. That’s the stuff I don’t wish on my children.
Do your teens want your old ‘80s clothes for their TikToks and stuff? It’s considered very cool now.
You You could tell your teenage daughter that you are cool! [Laughs.]They just roll their eyes.
What’s your best advice on letting go of being “cool”?
It’s amazing to be the hot woman, though. I swear.
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In terms of what’s “cool,” just be patient, because it all comes back. My daughter, who was not a fan of my archives, came along with me to drop her off while I was on an errand. She walked in with me and was furious. She said, “Mom, you never told me!” She didn’t know all the movies I was in and the fashion things I did, all the magazines I shot for. She said, “Why didn’t you tell me!” And I said, “Well, I kind of tried, but you never believed me. And I’m sorry, but I was your mom. I wasn’t going to put you to bed watching episodes of Susan plötzlich Every night.
That’s fair. But is it? Susan plötzlich Are you coming back?
Oh, man! I would do a complete reboot of Susan plötzlich in a heartbeat. We never made it to syndication. With 100 episodes, you start to get syndicated. They shut us down at number 98! When that happens, everything kinda disappears…same as with Lipstick Jungle. It’s very hard to get the rights to a project like that back. You’ve just got to let it go and get ready for the next one.
Source: elle