Brooke Shields began her career as a model in 1966, at the age of 11 months. Her first job was for Ivory Soap, shot by Francesco Scavullo.She continued as a successful child model with model agent Eileen Ford, who, in her Lifetime Network biography, stated that she started her children’s division just for Shields.
In early 1980, the 14-year-old Shields was the youngest fashion model ever to appear on the cover of the top fashion publication Vogue magazine. Later that same year, Shields appeared in controversial print and TV ads for Calvin Klein jeans. The TV ad included her saying the famous tagline, “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” Brooke Shields ads would help catapult Klein’s career to super-designer status.
From 1981 to 1983, Brooke Shields, her mother, photographer Gary Gross, Playboy Press and the New York City Courts were involved in litigation over the rights to some photographs her mother had signed away to the photographer (when dealing with models who are also minors, a parent or legal guardian must sign such a release form while other agreements are subject to negotiation) which were originally intended to appear in a book titled Sugar and Spice to be published by Playboy Press.
The courts ruled in favor of the photographer but due to a strange twist in New York law, it would have been otherwise had Brooke Shields been considered a child “performer” rather than a model
