The PVH-owned fashion giant, Calvin Klein has sparked a controversial debate online with its latest campaign that features a pregnant transgender man.
The fashion label, known for slick, edgy, ground-breaking advertisement campaigns recently launched its new campaign featuring Brazilian couple Roberto Bete and his partner Erica Feeha. Roberto is a transgender male who appears shirtless and very pregnant in the ad campaign.
Bete appeared in the reality dating series O Crush Perfeito (The Perfect Crush), on Netflix.
The campaign featuring Bete and Feeha depicted the couple laying on a bed together in their Calvin Klein underwear. In one picture the caption reads: “We can reproduce biologically or from the heart… our place is to be loved.” In another image, Bete has his loving hand on his baby bump.
Bete’s baby was born two days later – a little boy named Noah.
Calvin Klein claims the campaign shines a spotlight on the reality of contemporary families.
The Instagram post shared by the company was flooded with a plethora of comments, mostly positive and supportive toward its stance on inclusivity, which shows a selection of images of various family units – everything from single mothers to interracial couples.
The images were part of its global Mother’s Day campaign.
While the majority of comments were positive, some users were less than happy to sight the images, writing comments such as, “cancel,” and “blocked,” and “no longer purchasing this brand.”
In a tweet on Twitter, Steven Crowder, an American-Canadian media host, actor, stand-up comedian, and conservative political commentator wrote, “We have a huge baby formula shortage! The left says men are the root of all problems, so it’s only fair to blame pregnant men, right? I wonder what Calvin Klein has to say about this. #Calvinklein.”
The Mother’s Day campaign was launched on Sunday (Mother’s Day in the USA) and it also featured non-transgender models from various countries with their children.
It isn’t the first time the fashion giant has featured a transgender model in its underwear ads. The clothing brand featured Jari Jones, a transgender activist in a 2020 Gay Pride campaign in which Jones was wearing a sports bra in the images.
The company wrote: “We embrace this platform as an inclusive and respectful environment for individualism and self-expression. At Calvin Klein, we tolerate everything except intolerance – any intolerant commentary will be removed, and any accounts issuing hateful statements may be blocked. We look forward to continuing a positive and inclusive dialogue in partnership with our community.”
