The Jude Bellingham Calvin Klein campaign is officially out in the world. Calvin Klein, the New York fashion house founded in 1968, has launched a global underwear campaign called The Icon Underneath, and it stars global football star Jude Bellingham in his first campaign for the brand. It went live on November 2 across Calvin Klein stores, calvinklein.com, the brand's social channels and out-of-home placements, the industry term for billboards, bus shelters and other big street-level advertising.
The search spike makes sense. One of football's biggest names, a brand whose underwear ads have been cultural events for decades, and a set of images built to be stopped on. The question for anyone who cares about how these things are made is simple: what did Calvin Klein actually put out, and who made it.
Shot in Madrid by Oliver Hadlee Pearch
According to the official release from Calvin Klein and its parent company PVH, the campaign was directed and photographed by Oliver Hadlee Pearch, who shot Bellingham in Madrid in August 2026. The brand describes the pictures as pared back, with Bellingham captured at his most natural, and there is a nod to his signature goal celebrations in the set.
The lead image does what the classic Calvin Klein underwear pictures have always done. A pale stone set, soft daylight, nothing else in the frame, and the logo waistband doing the branding on its own. No props, no slogan in the shot. It is a portrait first and an ad second, which is exactly why this format has lasted.
Bellingham put it in his own words in the release. "I really enjoyed working on this campaign," he said, adding that he liked the idea of the icon underneath because confidence starts with feeling comfortable in yourself. "Calvin Klein is such an iconic brand, so it was great to bring that idea to life in my own way."
What he is wearing: Icon Cotton Stretch
The product at the center is Icon Cotton Stretch, the brand's core cotton underwear line, made from a soft cotton stretch blend for a flexible fit. The news for anyone who actually buys the stuff is a new style. Bellingham debuts the Icon Cotton Stretch Shine Trunk, which takes the familiar Infinity Bond logo waistband, the bonded elastic band with the Calvin Klein name running around it, and gives it a shine finish.
Across the campaign he also wears the rest of the core shapes:
- Boxer Brief: the longer leg, the most common everyday cut.
- Low Rise Trunk: a shorter leg that sits lower. Calvin Klein describes its Icon Cotton trunks as a secure fit that sits low on the waist.
- Hip Brief: the classic brief shape. The brand pitches its Icon Cotton briefs as a streamlined fit with lightweight support.
- Slim Boxer: a trimmer take on the boxer.
The campaign page on Calvin Klein's Australian site sums up the brief in a line: "The icon himself in our icons. Pure comfort. Lasting support. Always timeless." It also shows Bellingham in a Cotton Classics tank, so the campaign stretches a little past underwear.
Why it matters
Underwear has long been the most visible part of Calvin Klein's advertising, and casting the face of a generation of football is a clear swing at a global audience that watches the sport every weekend. It also lands as winter retail and gift season begins, which is when basics like these sell.
For more on how brands and athletes are crossing over this season, see Perks and Mini x Umbro's psychedelic football kit and adidas Originals by Wales Bonner AW26. For another big fashion house leaning on a single strong image, look at HUGO and entire studios.
The full set is rolling out on Calvin Klein's Instagram, and you can follow Bellingham on his own Instagram. The campaign, and the new Shine Trunk, are live now at calvinklein.com.
