Mark Wahlberg dropping his pants at the Hollywood Bowl in 1993 wasn't just a stunt. It was a cultural earthquake. If you weren't there, or if you only know him as the guy from The Departed or those F45 workout videos, it's hard to describe how much "Marky Mark" dominated the visual landscape of the early nineties.
Honestly, the Mark Wahlberg Calvin Klein runway history is a bit of a chaotic mix of charity benefits, high-stakes marketing, and a very uncomfortable 17-year-old Kate Moss. While most people remember the black-and-white billboards photographed by Herb Ritts, the live runway appearances were where the "bad boy" persona really went off the rails.
What Really Happened on the Calvin Klein Runway?
Most people assume Mark Wahlberg was a professional model who walked standard New York Fashion Week shows. That's not quite right. Calvin Klein was savvy; he didn't just want a "walker." He wanted a spectacle. In 1993, Klein took his "hip-hop fashion show" to Los Angeles for an AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) benefit.
This wasn't your typical stiff Parisian catwalk. It was loud. It was aggressive.
At the climax of the show, Wahlberg walked out with Kate Moss. They were the faces of the brand, but they reportedly couldn't stand each other. Moss later described feeling "vulnerable and scared" during their collaborations, noting that Wahlberg was "very macho" and surrounded by a massive entourage. On that stage at the Hollywood Bowl, Wahlberg ended the walk by letting his baggy jeans slide to his ankles, revealing those now-iconic white CK briefs.
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The crowd lost it.
It wasn't just the Hollywood Bowl
Wahlberg popped up on several "runways" that were actually high-profile benefit events.
- APLA Benefit (1993): The big one. The jeans-drop moment.
- Race to Erase MS (1995): He appeared at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills for the Fall '95 collection.
- California Fashion Industry Friends of APLA: Multiple appearances where he basically played the role of the ultimate brand ambassador.
The Crotch Grab That Built an Empire
You can't talk about the runway without the ads that made them possible. Before Marky Mark, underwear was just... underwear. It was something your mom bought you in a three-pack from a department store.
Calvin Klein changed that by leaning into Wahlberg’s "street" reputation. John Varvatos, who was a designer at CK at the time, actually pioneered the boxer brief specifically for these campaigns. He noticed Wahlberg liked to wear his pants low, but standard boxers bunched up and briefs looked, well, like "tighty-whities."
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The solution? The boxer brief.
Wahlberg famously improvised the "crotch grab" during his sessions with Herb Ritts. It was crude, it was provocative, and it worked. It supposedly saved the company from significant financial trouble in 1992.
The Tension with Kate Moss
It's kinda wild looking back at those photos now. They look like the perfect "cool" couple. In reality, it was a mess. Moss was 17, Wahlberg was 21. She has since gone on record saying the shoot gave her a nervous breakdown.
"I had a nervous breakdown when I was 17 or 18, when I had to go and work with Marky Mark and Herb Ritts," Moss told Vanity Fair. "I felt really bad about straddling this buff guy. I didn't like it."
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Wahlberg, for his part, was "rough around the edges." He wasn't a fashion guy; he was a rapper from Boston who had spent time in jail and was suddenly the most famous torso in the world. He later admitted he wasn't very "worldly" back then.
Why We’re Still Talking About This in 2026
Fashion is cyclical, sure, but this specific era of Calvin Klein defines "90s Heroin Chic" and "Grunge Minimalism." When Jeremy Allen White’s CK ad went viral recently, every single comparison went straight back to Wahlberg.
Wahlberg actually commented on the new wave of models, calling White a "worthy successor." But there’s a grit to those original 90s shows that you just can't recreate with modern, polished social media campaigns.
The Actionable Takeaway for Fashion History Buffs
If you're looking to understand why certain brands "stick," look at the Wahlberg era. It wasn't about the clothes; it was about the friction between the high-fashion world of Calvin Klein and the "street" energy of Marky Mark.
- Study the photography: Herb Ritts’ use of natural light and high-contrast black and white is still the blueprint for luxury lifestyle branding.
- Look at the casting: Klein chose Wahlberg because he was "real" and a bit dangerous, not because he had a traditional model look.
- Recognize the "Boxer Brief" legacy: Every pair of mid-thigh underwear you own exists because of these 1992-1993 runway and print moments.
The Mark Wahlberg Calvin Klein runway era ended as Wahlberg pivoted to serious acting, eventually distancing himself from the "Marky Mark" persona. He even spent years getting his tattoos removed. But for those few years in the early 90s, he and Calvin Klein didn't just sell underwear—they sold a version of masculinity that changed the industry forever.
To see the direct influence today, compare the 1993 Hollywood Bowl footage with modern "viral" fashion stunts. You'll see that while the faces change, the playbook remains exactly the same.