Emily Ratajkowski is the face of the new DKNY intimates campaign

By

Arati Menon

Published
Feb 15, 2018

DKNY has reunited with Emily Ratajkowski for its latest Spring 2018 Intimates campaign and video. Released yesterday, the video features the model and actress in candid moments — eating pizza, taking a selfie — revealing a series of confessions about who she really is.

The #UnderneathmyDKNY ad is shot in a style that’s direct and playful, with Ratajkowski looking straight at the camera, saying things like “I’ve been known to like French Fries” — a quip at the general opinion that models barely eat.
 
Ratajkowski was previously tapped last year to be the face of DKNY intimates. Sebastian Faena shot the model and actress for the brand’s spring 2017 campaign titled #GoodMorningDKNY. In the film, Ratajkowski wakes up in her apartment and then walks her dog through the streets of New York while wearing nothing but her bra and briefs.

The new campaign continues on the racy yet playful theme but expands it with a stronger message — the idea that sexuality need not be apologized for — “I am most comfortable when I’m naked,” says Ratajkowski at one point.
 
Brands have been held to far more stringent standards lately when it comes to the portrayal of models and the reinforcement of gender and sexual identities. In the wake of #MeToo movement, the fashion community is being compelled to think about its contributions. 
 
In December, a Jimmy Choo ad was pulled amid social media backlash over its portrayal of sexism.
 
American Apparel, discredited for its hyper-sexualized ads featuring teenage girls, has also had to move decisively away from the campaigns of its past. Last year the brand launched its “Back to Basics” campaign as part of a rebranding effort led by an all-female executive team. They only cast models 25 years and over, and incorporated a greater diversity of body types and ethnicities.
 
DKNY’s new campaign is not cutting itself off from the sexy or the flirtatious, but it is attempting to court a more self-assured consumer. As Ratajkowski says in the video: “I follow my own rules. I don’t take any s**t – neither should you.”