Earlier this year, Jake Gyllenhaal was amongst the many incognito celebrities at Raf Simons’ Spring 2018 menswear show, which was held on a steamy summer night at a lantern-lit outdoor market under the bridge in New York’s Chinatown. It turns out, that was no accident. Like many of the stars who attended the buzzy show–including A$AP Rocky, Ashton Sanders–Gyllenhaal is a new muse of Calvin Klein’s chief creative officer Raf Simons, and is now starring in the campaign for Eternity, one of Calvin Klein’s most iconic fragrances.
Gyllenhaal and Simons first met in February, when the fashion designer attended a performance of the actor’s Broadway show, Sunday in the Park with George. “Raf said, ‘I like you, and I’d like to collaborate with you on this idea,'” Gyllenhaal recalled. As it turns out, that’s exactly how Gyllenhaal likes to choose his projects.
Stories about Jake Gyllenhaal tend to highlight the moment he decided to boldly walk away from would-be Hollywood tentpoles like Prince of Persia and The Day After Tomorrow to, you know, be an artist. Truth is, the guy’s been making interesting choices from the jump: Donnie Darko, The Good Girl, Brokeback Mountain—three genres, three killer performances. Gyllenhaal, 36, can be goofy—on talk shows, but in conversation, he’s deliberate and serious. Gyllenhaal is at his stirring, emotional best this fall in Stronger, based on the true story of Jeff Bauman, a hero of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing who just wanted to watch his girlfriend cross the finish line when he was caught in the blast. 
