Honestly, if you grew up in the 90s, you couldn't escape it. You’d walk into a mall or past a bus stop, and there he was: Marky Mark—the rapper known for "Good Vibrations"—staring back at you in nothing but white briefs. It’s hard to overstate how much the Mark Wahlberg CK underwear campaign fundamentally broke the internet before the internet was even a thing.
It wasn’t just an ad. It was a massive cultural shift. Before 1992, men’s underwear was basically a utility item your mom bought you in a three-pack from Sears. After Mark Wahlberg climbed onto those billboards, underwear became a fashion statement. It became about sex, status, and a specific kind of "bad boy" energy that Calvin Klein spent millions to bottle up.
But behind those polished black-and-white photos, things were a total mess.
The 1992 Campaign That Saved a Brand
By the early 90s, Calvin Klein wasn’t exactly the juggernaut it is today. The company was actually facing some pretty serious financial headwinds. They needed a hit. They needed something that would make people stop and stare.
Enter Mark Wahlberg.
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At the time, he was 21 years old and fresh off the success of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He had the abs, the attitude, and a reputation for being, well, a bit of a "punk," as he’s admitted himself in recent years. Calvin Klein paired him with a then 17-year-old Kate Moss for a series of shots by legendary photographer Herb Ritts.
The result? Sales didn't just go up; they exploded. Some industry reports suggest that the Mark Wahlberg CK underwear ads helped increase the brand's sales by nearly 34% in a single year. It was the birth of the "boxer brief" as a mainstream essential. Before this, you mostly had baggy boxers or tighty-whities. The hybrid "boxer brief" was pioneered by John Varvatos while he was at CK, but it was Wahlberg who turned it into a legend.
What Really Happened on Set (It Wasn't Pretty)
If you look at the photos, Wahlberg and Moss look like they’re having this intense, brooding moment. In reality? They absolutely could not stand each other.
Kate Moss has been very vocal about this recently. During an interview on Desert Island Discs, she described feeling "vulnerable and scared" during the shoot. She was a teenager, and Wahlberg arrived with a massive entourage and a very "macho" energy that dominated the room. She felt objectified, and the pressure of the shoot actually led to a nervous breakdown that kept her in bed for two weeks.
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"He was very macho, and it was all about him," Moss recalled. "I was just this model."
Wahlberg hasn't denied he was difficult back then. He told The Guardian in 2020 that he was "rough around the edges" and "not very worldly." He was basically a kid from Boston who suddenly had the world by the tail. While he says he has no beef with Kate now, the tension in those photos—which we all read as sexual chemistry—was actually a lot of genuine discomfort.
Why It Still Matters Today
You see the "waistband" everywhere now. Whether it’s Justin Bieber, Shawn Mendes, or Jeremy Allen White, every single modern celebrity underwear campaign is trying to catch the lightning that Mark Wahlberg put in a bottle.
- The "Sagging" Trend: Those ads basically popularized the look of wearing baggy jeans low enough to show the Calvin Klein logo.
- The Black-and-White Aesthetic: Herb Ritts used high-contrast lighting to make the human body look like a classical sculpture. It’s a trick the brand still uses every single season.
- Celebrity Over Models: This was one of the first times a brand ditched professional "models" for a pop star. It proved that personality sells better than a blank face.
The Controversial End of the Partnership
It wasn't all just billboard success. The relationship between Mark Wahlberg and CK underwear ended abruptly in late 1993.
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While the ads were making everyone a lot of money, Wahlberg was also becoming a lightning rod for controversy. There were reports of homophobic comments and a generally "difficult" public persona that started to clash with the sophisticated image Calvin Klein wanted to project. His contract expired in December 1993 and, despite the massive sales, the brand chose not to renew it.
Wahlberg shifted his focus to Hollywood, eventually becoming the A-list actor we know today. He’s spent most of the last 30 years trying to distance himself from the "Marky Mark" persona, even telling his kids that the underwear modeling is "embarrassing" to look back on.
Actionable Takeaways: What You Can Learn from the CK Era
If you're looking at the history of this campaign as a student of fashion or marketing, there are a few real-world lessons to pull from it:
- Identity Over Product: Calvin Klein didn't sell cotton; they sold a "tribal" identity. Wearing the waistband meant you were part of the "cool" crowd.
- Provocation is a Double-Edged Sword: The ads worked because they were "risqué," but the same personality that made the ads work eventually became too much for the brand to handle.
- Visual Consistency is King: The black-and-white, minimalist style established in 1992 is still the brand's primary visual language in 2026. If it isn't broken, don't fix it.
If you’re looking to find vintage pieces from this era, your best bet is searching for "1992 CK original series" on secondary markets like Grailed or Depop. Be warned: the sizing from the early 90s is much smaller and "snugger" than modern fits. If you want the authentic look, you'll probably need to size up.