Pirelli rolls out shocking new look in 2016 for its once-racy calendar
There were a few shock waves in October when Playboy magazine announced that it was no longer running nudity between its covers.
Now, the Pirelli tire company has announced it is shifting gears, leaving behind its calendars featuring nude and semi nude supermodels.
In their place, the 2016 Pirelli calendar shows women of all ages in all states of attire, photographed by Annie Leibovitz.
There have been four decades of Pirelli calendars and they’ve featured plenty of skin and artful photography.
This one’s far different. The New York Times opined that the move “may signal a cultural shift.” “This is what women of strength look like,” tweeted high-profile Canadian entrepreneur Arlene Dickinson. “What a wonderful tribute to women of all ages!”
“This calendar is so completely different,” Leibovitz said through the Pirelli site. “It’s a whole other concept.”
Among those in the new calendar are Agnes Gund, 77, a philanthropist and president emerita of the Museum of Modern Art, author Fran Lebowitz, 65, and Mellody Hobson, 46, president of Ariel Investments.
Other clothed subjects include Yoko Ono, rocker Patti Smith and Selma director Ava DuVernay.
There’s still some nudity, but not much of it. Tennis star Serena Williams is topless, with her back to the camera, while comic Amy Schumer wears lingerie and holds a coffee cup. None of the women photographed are supermodels and all of them are accomplished. The parade of unclad and semiclad young supermodels in past Pirelli calendars included Kate Moss, Gisele Bundchen, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell.