Dakota Johnson has a new job title, and this one suits her perfectly.
The actress is now the face of Calvin Klein’s spring 2026 campaign, launching globally today, and the ad is exactly what you’d expect from the brand that has always understood the assignment.
The campaign, shot and directed by photographer Gordon von Steiner, follows Johnson through what looks like a lazy afternoon at home.
Johnson listens to music on a couch, plays pool, relaxes in the sun, and at one point casually slips off a pair of baggy jeans. She wears several versions of Calvin Klein’s new Ultralight underwear throughout, a cotton brief, a bra, the works.
The whole thing runs 15 seconds and manages to be both deeply sensual and completely unforced. It is, in short, extremely Calvin Klein.
The campaign launched globally today across Calvin Klein retail, calvinklein.com, and all social platforms.
What Is Dakota Johnson Actually Wearing In The Campaign?
The ad is built around two new product lines. The first is the Calvin Klein Ultralight collection, described by the brand as a barely-there underwear range built around sculpting designs.
The line includes a cotton Ultralight brief and the Perfectly Fit bra, both of which Johnson wears throughout the video.
The second is a new ’90s-inspired denim collection featuring three silhouettes: the Archive High Rise Slim, a high-waisted straight-leg jean; the Relaxed Trucker, a vintage-inspired style; and the Baggy jean, which is exactly what it sounds like, a relaxed, easy fit that Johnson is seen sliding off in what is already the most-shared moment from the ad.
The campaign is launching alongside availability of all three collections. This is not a preview, you can buy what she’s wearing today.
Has Dakota Johnson Worked With Calvin Klein Before?
Not officially — but the pairing makes complete sense. Calvin Klein has long built its campaigns around celebrities who project a specific quality: confidence that doesn’t try too hard, sensuality that never tips into performance.
Think Brooke Shields in the 1980s. Kate Moss in the ’90s. Justin Bieber and Lara Stone in the 2010s.
The brand chooses its faces carefully, and Dakota Johnson fits the brief almost too perfectly.
Johnson, 36, has been one of Hollywood’s most interesting figures for the past several years, not necessarily because of the films she’s made, but because of the way she moves through the world.
Her Fifty Shades of Grey press tours. Her now-legendary Ellen interview. Her quotes about the set of Madame Web. Her unshakeable composure in the face of bad reviews.
There is something deeply, specifically her about the Calvin Klein campaign, unhurried, at ease in her own skin, slightly amused by the whole thing.
In a conversation with Elle published alongside the campaign today, Johnson spoke about the experience of making the ad and her approach to feeling good in her body, describing the shoot as relaxed and natural.
The campaign’s visual language, Von Steiner’s warm, intimate photography reinforces that. This does not look like a fashion ad. It looks like someone’s apartment on a Sunday afternoon.
Who Is Gordon Von Steiner?
The photographer and director behind the campaign is Gordon von Steiner, one of the most sought-after names in fashion right now.
Von Steiner has built a reputation for work that feels lived-in rather than posed, his images tend toward natural light, real texture, and subjects who look like they forgot the camera was there.
He has shot campaigns for Valentino, Bottega Veneta, and Jacquemus, among others, and his aesthetic is a natural fit for what Calvin Klein has been building toward: less billboard, more moment.
His direction on the Dakota Johnson clip is understated in the best possible way. At 15 seconds, it doesn’t overstay its welcome. It doesn’t explain itself. It just is.
Why Dakota Johnson, Why Now?
Calvin Klein has been on a very deliberate run of campaign casting in recent years. Jeremy Allen White’s underwear campaign last year broke the internet so thoroughly that it became a cultural reference point within 48 hours.
The brand knows what it’s doing. Picking Dakota Johnson for spring 2026 is a statement about where the brand wants to sit: not in the realm of aspirational perfection, but in the territory of someone who is genuinely, unself-consciously at home in themselves.
Johnson is coming off a period of intense public visibility. Materialists, her recent film, brought her back into the awards conversation, and stepping into this campaign at this exact moment gives Calvin Klein a face that people are already paying attention to. The ad, by all early indications, is working exactly as intended.
