Calvin Klein has taken a unique and particularly refreshing approach for its new CK One campaign.
Instead of recruiting celebrities and professional models, the American brand is using the campaign to highlight powerful young voices across America. CK enlisted various photographers to shoot the diverse group of young adults in their everyday environments. We see an environmental activist from the Rosebud Lakota Nation, a DACA recipient who has dreams of becoming a filmmaker, a Brooklyn native who is pursuing a career in fashion, and a Baltimore musician who is readying his band's debut album.
You can read mini-profiles on some of the featured youth below and the official campaign video above. To see the full campaign, titled "one future #ckone," head to CK's website.
Brandon Woody, 22, Baltimore, Maryland
Brandon Timothy Woody is a creator from East Baltimore. Woody started playing trumpet at age 8 and has grown in skill tremendously since. He spent one year at the Brubeck Institute and one year at the Manhattan School of Music before dropping out and moving back home. Woody has taught and performed in venues/ schools and programs internationally. He is currently in the process of recording his debut album set to release early 2021 with his band UPENDO.
“They make us out to be so angry, so violent, so hateful. We need to normalize our vulnerability, our honesty, our sensitivity.”
Toni Bravo, 20, Long Beach, California
A native of Long Beach, California, Toni Bravo is a multifaceted creator with a passion for storytelling and depicting diverse points of view. Rollerskating has greatly impacted her life by giving her a sense of community. She also loves music, drawing and reselling vintage clothing. Toni is currently studying film.
“Something I would like to change in the world would be perspective,” Bravo said.
Quannah Chasinghorse Potts, 17, Fairbanks, Alaska
Quannah Chasing Horse Potts, is Han Gwich’in from Eagle, Alaska and Oglala Lakota from the Rosebud Lakota Nation. She is an advocate to obtain wilderness designation (permanent protection) for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, protecting those sacred lands from oil development. Every year Quannah hunts caribou with her family and fishes for salmon in the summer, which has given her a strong connection to her people’s indigenous lands and way of life. Quannah is passionate about climate change and environmental justice. She plays basketball, is a musician, snowboarder, and is apprenticing as a traditional tattoo artist. She lives in Fairbanks, Alaska with her family.
“I don’t see myself as an activist. I see myself as a protector. You know, I was just protecting my way of life, practicing my ways of life, and sharing my story.”
Chris Gomez, 18, Coral Springs, Florida
Born and raised in Coral Springs, Florida, Chris Gomez was greatly impacted by the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Since then, he and his friends have been much more involved politically.
“We’ve been promised a better future for a long time. We want something more," he said.
