Pirelli, an Italian tire manufacturer, has had a habit of releasing an annual calendar of nude and scantily-clad women that many women have been less than happy about. This year's calendar, however, promises to be a PR coup – instead of their usual softcore-pornographic fare, their 2016 calendar will feature thinkers, athletes, businesspeople and other inspiring elites from the world of women.
Though the women in the photos are in various states of dress (or undress), that's definitely not the focus this time around. Annie Leibovitz, the award-winning photographer behind this year's calendar (whom we've written about before), said, "I started to think about the roles that women play, women who have achieved something. I wanted to make a classic set of portraits. I thought that the women should look strong but natural, and I decided to keep it a very simple exercise of shooting in the studio. This calendar is so completely different. It is a departure. The idea was not to have any pretense in these pictures and be very straightforward."
What do you think about this new direction?
Amy Schumer
Serena Williams
Yoko Ono
Natalia Vodianova
Ava Duvernay
Patti Smith
Yao Chen
Shirin Neshat
Tavi Gevinson
Mellody Hobson
Fran Lebowitz
Agnes Gund and Sadie Rain-Hope Gund
Kathleen Kennedy
Behind the scenes:
