Moonlight cast star in Calvin Klein underwear advert including Oscar winner Mahershala Ali

The striking images were captured by renowned photographer Willy Vanderperre

Sarah Jones
Tuesday 28 February 2017 13:20 EST
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Hot on the heels of their Oscar win for Best Picture, the cast of Moonlight have landed their first major campaign for Calvin Klein.

The striking photos, all captured by Willy Vanderperre, feature 27-year-old Trevante Rhodes, 43-year-old Mahershala Ali, 21-year-old Ashton Sanders and 12-year-old Alex Hibbert.

The second campaign following Raf Simons’ appointment as creative director in August - The first starred Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown – the designer declared that the ads were created to celebrate the “revelatory performances in the film of the year”.

Speaking in the campaign, titled ‘Revelation’, Mahershala Ali says, “Even after the performance is over, I realise that you still have to service it.

“I’ll be in a coffee shop and someone will come up to me and just open a vein…telling me how this struck a nerve for them, what their experience was. And I really try to be present for that. I’m really thankful for that.”

On the night of the Oscars, Rhodes, Hibbert, Sanders and Ali were all dressed by Raf Simons at Calvin Klein alongside Supporting Actress nominee Naomie Harris.

“I just met Raf and I almost fainted, man,” Sanders says.

“Really. I’ve been a fan of his since I was in the 10th grade.”

The four cast members strike all manner of beautiful poses in a set of arresting images but, while Mahershala and Trevante show off their chiseled abs, Simons insists that this campaign is about so much more than that.

In a statement, he said: “It's an acknowledgement of remarkable actors who are revealing something important of being a man today in what they do.”

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