Sex Continues to Sell

Just one week ago, in light of Marc Jacobs’ newly released ads starring Daisy Lowe, I predicted that, thanks to the recession, 2009 would welcome an abundance of sexually charged imagery. Well, barely a week into the New Year, a photo shoot has surfaced that’s as provocative as anything I’ve seen since Steven Meisel’s dogging spread for V. (Note: NSFW!)

From frockwriter: “This image of Blount is part of a Calvin Klein homage spread called ’CK Teen Screen Grabs‘ that was shot by photographer Brett Lloyd and styled by Nicola Formichetti for British fashion website Ponystep – co-founded by BoomBox’s Richard Mortimer.”

Barely legal male models are pictured with phrases like “CK 4 EVA” scrawled across their lower backs, or “FUCK ME”—with one word written across each of Blount’s inner thighs, while the model kneels, arms behind his back, with an especially suggestive set of toes poking out from beneath his crotch. While the NSFW aspect of these images is nothing especially new; the fact that they picture 18-year-old male models in a series of subjugated, excessively vulnerable positions is pretty unsettling. Not to mention the suggestiveness of the images is pretty much stuffed down the viewer’s throat. So to speak.