Sadie Sink is no longer just Max from Stranger Things. The 24-year-old American actress has become one of Hollywood’s most recognizable young stars and is currently appearing in Spider-Man: Brand New Day alongside Zendaya and Tom Holland. Now she is also landing one of fashion’s most prominent campaigns, slipping into a pair of Calvin Klein jeans.
Sink has steadily built her status as a fashion figure in recent years, with standout red-carpet appearances and ambassador roles for Prada and Armani Beauty. At 15, she appeared alongside Dakota and Elle Fanning, Julia Garner and Chloë Sevigny in the campaign film Miu Miu Whispers.
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Sadie Sink slips into a pair of Calvin Klein jeans
(Photo: Aidan Zamiri, courtesy of the brand and Factory 54)
Moving beyond Stranger Things. Sadie Sink in Calvin Klein’s denim campaign
(Photo: Aidan Zamiri, courtesy of the brand and Factory 54)
Sink’s casting continues Calvin Klein’s tradition of choosing young stars
(Photo: Aidan Zamiri, courtesy of the brand and Factory 54)
Her new Calvin Klein campaign presents a different side of her image: lighter, more playful and noticeably sexier than before.
Cementing her status as a fashion figure. Sadie Sink in Calvin Klein’s campaign
(Photo: Aidan Zamiri, courtesy of the brand and Factory 54)
Sink stars in the second installment of Calvin Klein’s fall 2026 denim campaign, Feel the Fit, photographed by Aidan Zamiri. Singer and dancer Tate McRae appeared in the first.
Two videos released Wednesday on social media place Sink in everyday situations and play with the idea that something as simple as a pair of jeans can change a person’s energy, confidence and the way they carry themselves. Calvin Klein sums up the concept with a simple message: “The right jeans can change everything.”
Bringing sex appeal to an everyday wardrobe staple
(Photo: Aidan Zamiri, courtesy of the brand and Factory 54)
The choice of Sink fits a casting strategy Calvin Klein has used for decades: identifying young stars and positioning them as faces of their moment. Kate Moss, Justin Bieber, Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny are among the many cultural figures who have appeared in the brand’s campaigns since the 1990s.
Sadie Sink dances on a bed
(Video: Aidan Zamiri, courtesy of the brand and Factory 54)
Sadie Sink wreaks havoc in the kitchen
(Video: Aidan Zamiri, courtesy of the brand and Factory 54)
Bad Bunny, for example, fronted Calvin Klein’s men’s underwear campaign last year, connecting the brand’s familiar visual language with a younger audience, Latin music and contemporary pop culture.
Sadie Sink in Calvin Klein’s denim campaign
(Photo: Aidan Zamiri, courtesy of the brand and Factory 54)
The most iconic example, of course, remains Brooke Shields. In 1980, at the age of 15, Shields starred in a Calvin Klein jeans campaign photographed by Richard Avedon. The unforgettable campaign included the provocative line, “Nothing comes between me and my Calvins,” sparking controversy and even being banned by some U.S. television stations.
The campaign remains a fixture in fashion and consumer-marketing courses, and Sink’s new ads appear to reference it through certain visual and stylistic elements.
(Brooke Shields in a Calvin Klein campaign in 1980)
Forty-six years later, the basic marketing strategy behind selling jeans seems remarkably familiar. Perhaps that is because denim is such an everyday, accessible item, something almost everyone has in their closet. To turn it into something aspirational and exciting, fashion campaigns often rely on sex appeal to sharpen the message and generate attention across media and social platforms.
One of the clearest examples over the past year was Sydney Sweeney’s campaign for American Eagle, which pushed the previously sleepy American brand back into the headlines.