The glimpses of the iconic Pirelli Calendar 2016 were released last night that established that Instead of the sexy-sleek look “The Cal” is known for, Annie Leibovitz took a simple and natural approach to the portraits this year. In September Pirelli announced Leibovitz’s concept for the 2016 edition: women of all ages and achievements, looking like their strong selves. These pin-up women for the 21st century include writer Fran Lebovitz, musician and performer Yoko Ono, businesswoman Mellody Hobson, actress and writer Tavi Gevinson, among others.
All images are photographed in-studio in simple black and white. No one is completely naked, though tennis champion Serena Williams and comedian Amy Schumer come close. The images are strikingly spare and elegant — beautiful and not sexual.
The 2016 Pirelli Calendar shot by Annie Leibovitz was styled by the Vanity Fair magazine’s fashion and style director, Jessica Diehl. Pirelli Calendars are given out to select VIPs and hence considered as ‘Baap’ of all calendars.
Pirelli calendar is what I like to call a product of ‘contrived exclusivity’. It contrived its exclusivity by being distributed to 20,000 ‘elite’ of the world. But, this kind of fake exclusivity, that is neither founded on innovation, nor intelligence, or even on creativity was bound collapse, especially in the age of Instagram. These women though are truly exclusive by their achievements.
Awesome concept of a calendar. I would be proud to own it!