LONG gone are the days of only seeing young supermodels fronting sultry underwear campaigns.
High-profile modeling gigs are no longer reserved for stars in their 20s, with bigwigs like Jennifer Lopez posing in their skivvies for popular lingerie brands well into their 40s and 50s.
Jennifer Lopez
For the past year, Jennifer, 54, has been the face of Intimissimi, an Italian lingerie and sleepwear brand.
The “Jenny from the Block” singer announced her latest campaign for the retailer in an Instagram post this month.
“Embrace your power,” she wrote, sharing photos of herself posing in Intimissimi’s new Silky Intimates collection.
JLo made her debut last March when she signed up to be the brand’s 2023 spring and summer collection global ambassador, at the age of 53.
The model also took the lead in Intimissimi’s “This is Now” lingerie capsule in October, which aimed to capture “the essence of modern sophistication and empowerment.”
“Lingerie is deeply intimate — it’s an embrace that empowers you to feel free and beautiful,” JLo said in a press release.
“It’s delicate, it’s soft yet reveals the confidence in yourself.
“I’m proud to be an Intimissimi woman and honored that they view me as someone who emulates their own qualities of confident, lively, and strong.”
Gabrielle Union
Gabrielle signed on as period care and intimates brand Knix’s global ambassador in March, at age 51.
The “Bring It On” actress is the face of their “Knix For Life” campaign, a role previously filled by high-profile models like Ashley Graham.
“Everything I’ve done, everything I’ve been outspoken about, this body has done it with me,” she said in a campaign video.
“What if there was a brand that was made for our bodies? Because every body has a story.”
The actress doubled down on her sentiments, encouraging women to embrace themselves at whatever stage of life they’re in.
“Who you are is who you are, and there’s nobody more beautiful,” the model said on Knix’s website.
“With Knix, you feel important at every stage and at every age.
“Now that I’m 51, I just want my body to be healthy.”
Heidi Klum
Supermodel Heidi Klum, 50, most recently teamed up with her teenage daughter Leni, 19, for Intimissimi’s holiday campaign in 2023.
The mother-daughter duo posed side by side in lacy red two-piece sets to celebrate their bond and natural beauty.
But this wasn’t the first time they fronted a lingerie campaign together.
Heidi and Leni also starred in Intimissimi’s “Art of Italian Lingerie” campaign in late 2022.
“Together with @intimissimiofficial we celebrate women; the love and support between a mother and her daughter; and how confident, beautiful, and happy lingerie can make you feel,” Heidi wrote in an Instagram post that October.
They continued to model for the brand throughout 2023.
Leni explained in an interview with People in 2017 that her supermodel mom had inspired her interest in lingerie early on.
“I have to say, even before that I think my mom also [influenced me] because she was really into lingerie, she always had a variety of different great things and I saw that,” Leni said.
“You kind of model a little after what your mom does. I think also that’s why I’m very free with my body.
“I tan topless because I saw my mom do that.”
Naomi Campbell
Naomi was decades into her modeling career when she starred in her first Calvin Klein Underwear campaign in 2019, at the age of 49.
Euphoria star Jacob Elordi, model Bella Hadid, musicians Diplo and Lay Zhang, and football player Odell Beckham Jr. were also featured in the series of #MYCALVINS ads.
Calvin Klein explained in a press release that it aimed to highlight the more “candid” side of lingerie as it “celebrates two totally different perspectives of what sexy looks like.”
“The result blurs the line between the public image and private realities of our unapologetic cast and asks the question, ‘How do you do sexy? Perfectly filtered or IRL raw?'” the brand said.
A black-and-white photo of the model posing in a black set is juxtaposed next to a more casual, full-color shot of her lounging on a bed.
“The campaign brings to life the playful and pure perspective of sexy; one that encourages self-expression and underscores the idea that sexy is a state of mind,” the brand added.
Christy Turlington
Model Christy Turlington was 44 when she became the face of Calvin Klein Underwear in 2013.
She first posed for the brand during a Calvin Klein Collection shoot with legendary photographer Irving Penn in 1988, at the age of 19.
That same year, she became the face of Calvin Klein Eternity and starred in a campaign shot by fashion photographer Bruce Weber.
Twenty-five years after her debut, she returned to the brand for its Fall 2013 underwear campaign.
“Well, I did tell Calvin, with Eternity, ‘If you name something that and put me on it, what the hell do you expect?”‘ she joked in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar at the time.
Christy also admitted that stripping down for the shoot wasn’t as easy as it used to be for her.
“You know, I’m 44 years old, I’m not 14. I’m healthy, I haven’t done anything to myself, I exercise. But,” she added, “I’m not entirely comfortable with myself in underwear either!”
Usher
Super Bowl performer and superstar Usher, 45, showed off his toned physique in Kim Kardashian’s Skims Men’s campaign in February ahead of the release of his album “COMING HOME.”
In one of the images posted on Instagram, the “Yeah!” singer stripped down and showed off his “juicy surprise” (re: abs) as he donned colored pairs of Skims Men’s Stretch boxer briefs.
Skims customers were gifted a limited-edition digital download of the singer’s bonus track “Naked” with the purchase of its boxers.
“When I was asked to partner with SKIMS Mens, I was so humbled,” Usher said in a press release.
“Kim’s been a longtime friend of mine who’s always been so supportive of my work, so the opportunity to collaborate together on a campaign that supports both of our highly anticipated launches made total sense.
“Launching this campaign ahead of multiple career milestones feels like a full circle moment, with SKIMS supporting the release of my new album, ‘COMING HOME’,” he said.