The stage name is a misnomer. Blaine Muse (AKA the not-so-Shygirl) has officially been christened a Calvin Klein model, posing for Sarah Piantadosi in nothing but a lace bra and white knickers. The musician joins Maya Hawke and footballer Romelu Lukaku in the brand’s new “Calvins or Nothing” campaign – which is surely a riff on Brooke Shield’s notorious tagline. “You want to know what comes in between me and my Calvins?” she once purred into the barrel of a camera. “Nothing.”
But it isn’t the 1980s anymore. Brooke Shields is no longer 15 and the rakish models once beloved by Mr Klein have been replaced by the likes of Megan Thee Stallion and Raisa Flowers. Women are no longer an adornment, hanging off the side of “straight-looking, masculine men, with chiselled bodies, young Greek gods come to life,” as the brand’s founder put it in 1974. Gaining major momentum over the pandemic, Shygirl has slowly but surely been welcomed into the upper echelons of the fashion industry, getting front row seats at Nigo’s Kenzo debut, while starring in Burberry’s AW21 collection, and an accompanying advertising campaign alongside FKA twigs and Kendall Jenner.
It’s Shygirl’s inherent sense of cool that makes her the ideal poster girl for a brand in 2022, her debut EP Alias marking its territory within culture with a mix of frantic garage beats, video game synths, and Europop sirens. Laced with a sultry, grime-adjacent flow, she cloaked herself in KNWLS, Mowalola, and ASAI, as she inhabited imaginary characters named Baddie, Bovine, Bae, and Bonk. Now, she can add Calvin Klein’s girl next door to her roster, too.