Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi is among the screen stars featured in Pirelli’s 2017 calendar – which looks more like the ultimate Oscars red carpet line-up than the stuff of salacious pin-ups.
Also featured are Nicole Kidman, Uma Thurman, Kate Winslet, Julianne Moore, Robin Wright, Rooney Mara, Lupita Nyong’o, Penelope Cruz, Jessica Chastain, Lea Seydoux, and Charlotte Rampling. The youngest model, Alicia Vikander, is 27, the oldest, Helen Mirren, 71.
German photographer Peter Lindbergh, who also shot Pirelli’s trade calendar in 1996 and 2002, has been influential in shifting its concept from titillation towards a more cerebral sex appeal. This calendar features more character, less skin; more T-shirts and turtlenecks, fewer bikinis.
Lindbergh tells Vogue his visual theme is “that talent is more important than a great body”.
Part of the Pirelli legend is that the calendar is not for sale, but sent to a high rollers and international public figures. This exclusivity is now entirely academic – the images are widely published on the internet.
Source: South China Morning Post