Neurons over nudity, states the new Pirelli calendar, the lineup of which reads more like a Steve McQueen call back than a list of women to be featured in the Italian tire brand’s once predictably provocative yearly. Lensed by iconic German photographer Peter Lindbergh, who first injected a bit of Hollywood charm into the cal back in 2002 with his images of Selma Blair, Julia Stiles and the late, oh so great Brittany Murphy, the 2017 calendar will feature raw, elegant images of some of the most iconic actresses of our time.
This year’s publication will be “a counter message to [the industry’s] fake beauty ideal,” the photography proudly stated to Vogue. The pared-down would-be pinups will include Kate Winslet, Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Dame Helen Mirren (aka the master of “sluttish eroticism“), Uma Thurman, Robin Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Alicia Vikander, Julianne Moore, Rooney Mara, Jessica Chastain, Charlotte Rampling, Zhang Ziyi and Léa Seydoux, along with Anastasia Ignatova, a professor of political theory at Moscow State University who you won’t find on IMDB.
“Everyone in this calendar, at one point in my life, I wanted to marry, and I didn’t have the balls to ask them!” says Lindbergh of his chosen ensemble. (Does anyone else have a sneaking suspicion he’s currently wooing Ignatova?)
Kate Winslet sets forth a new standard of beauty in this year’s Pirelli Calendar; Image: Alessandro Scotti for Pirelli
But on a more serious note, “The Pirelli Calendar is and has always been an incredible media instrument. In 1996, I was there with the supermodels. I think that’s why I did the calendar in 1996—because I was kind of ‘responsible,’ if you want, for the supermodels. To show beautiful women was the concept of Pirelli, and you could not go away from [that idea], so I was thinking, ‘It has to be this,’ and that was perfect because they were beautiful and intelligent. That was a beautiful calendar, I thought,” he told the fashion bible, continuing, “Then, in 2002, already I was thinking that the concept could change. [For that edition] instead of ‘beauty,’ or women who express themselves through their looks or bodies, [I thought] it was probably better to say that talent is more important than a great body, no? That was already a little revolutionary as an idea, and [today], we go a big step further.”
The calendar was shot over four weeks in five locales: Berlin, London, Los Angeles, Le Touquet (in the North of France) and Times Square, New York (no truer evidence of artistic dedication than that). Odile Gilbert coiffed those award-winning tresses, Stephane Marais handled makeup and Julia Von Boehm styled the brainy beauties.
It was unclear whether or not this year’s cal would revert back to model subjects after last year’s Amy Schumer-enhanced offering (the calendar “reflects contemporary society,” Marco Tronchetti Provera, the Pirelli chairman and chief executive, told The New York Times). No doubt last year’s Pirelli creative director, Annie Leibovitz, is as pleased as we are by these developments.
[ via Fashionista ]
