Apart from being known for their high performance tyres, Pirelli is next most famous for their....
CALENDAR.
This is something that many people in South-East Asia don't know about, and I cannot feel more privileged to have attended the exclusive launch of the 2017 Pirelli Calendar here in Paris. I'm gonna share all about it right here with you!
PIRELLI: 2017 CALENDAR BY PETER LINDBERGH UNVEILED IN PARIS
Paris, 29 November 2016 – It was a night of glitz and glamour with international hollywood stars gracing the red carpet, as the world witnessed the official launch of the 2017 Pirelli Calendar today.
Created by one of the world’s top photographers, Peter Lindbergh, the 2017 edition sees the Calendar diving in a completely different direction.
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| Gisele Bundchen |
Breaking away from the usual nude and scantily-clad supermodels in the previous copies, the German master takes "being more nude than naked" to a whole new level, with the women featured in this edition, completely dressed.
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| Peter Lindbergh |
Peter is the only photographer to have been asked to produce the Pirelli Calendar for the third time.
It was he who shot the Calendar of 1996 in the El Mirage desert in California, and the one of 2002 at the studios of Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles. In 2014, it was again Lindbergh, together with Patrick Demarchelier, who took the photographs to celebrate 50 years of the Calendar, which was first launched in 1964.
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| Nichole Kidman |
The Pirelli Calendar has now reached its 44th edition, and the photographer explains the underlying theme of the 2017 Pirelli Calendar:
“In a time when women are represented in the media and everywhere else, as ambassadors of perfection and youth, I thought it was important to remind everyone that there is a different beauty, more real and truthful and not manipulated by commercial or any other interests, a beauty which speaks about individuality, courage to be yourself and your own private sensibility...”.
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| Julianne Moore |
Lindbergh has chosen the title “Emotional” in order to emphasize how the idea behind his photos was “to create a calendar not around perfect bodies, but on sensitivity and emotion, stripping down to the very soul of the sitters, who thus become more nude than naked.”
In order to convey his idea of natural beauty and femininity, Lindbergh has portrayed 14 internationally renowned actresses. They are:
Jessica Chastain
Penelope Cruz
Nicole Kidman
Rooney Mara
Helen Mirren
Julianne Moore
Lupita Nyong’o
Charlotte Rampling
Lea Seydoux
Uma Thurman
Alicia Vikander
Kate Winslet
Robin Wright
Zhang Ziyi
He has also included Anastasia Ignatova, professor of Political Theory at MGIMO - Moscow State University of International Relations.
These choices once again reveal Lindbergh’s love of the cinema which makes the Cité du Cinéma in Saint Denis, one of Europe’s most important film studios, the natural setting for the traditional gala dinner where the new calendar has been presented.
“My aim was to portray women in a different way”, says Lindbergh, “and I did it by calling in actresses who’ve played an important role in my life, getting as close as possible to them to take my photos. As an artist, I feel I’m responsible for freeing women from the idea of eternal youth and perfection. The ideal of perfect beauty promoted by society is something that simply can’t be attained.”
All these years, majority of the media have portrayed women in an image whereby if they want to look attractive, they've gotta take their clothes off. But true beauty was never about how much clothes you have on or off. Rather, just embracing who you really are and not let anyone dictate that identity in you - that, is a powerful message the world needs to hear and Lindbergh have so successfully captured.
The result is a calendar consisting of 40 warm and beautiful images – with portraits and environments – that showed fully-clothed women appearing way more appealing than your usual pinup poster girls.
"You take everything away, you take the perfection away, you take great hairdos and wonderful make up away - You take everything away and you say, "These are the twelve of the most sensivle, emotional (actresses)." If you shoot in on women nobody knows, well, that's a good idea too, but then you would not make the connection."
Peter is very well-known for his unique photography that goes pretty much un-retouched or edited, and the images came out just so raw, with the actresses showcased in their most sensible and emotional form, you could almost literally feel the connection between them and the photographer.
And that is simply beautiful to see.
While the world or the fashion industry may not change their perspectives on unrealistic standards of beauty, Lindbergh would still like to share,
"Beauty today is really twisted, for commercial reasons, so people think beautiful is what you see in advertising and magazines - all these retouched women. You have to be perfect, you have to be thin, you have to be young - your have to be all this, and this is bullshit. It's so awful, and this image of beauty is imposted on people for commercial reasons, because you can't take money (if) you say to someone, "You know what, you're beautiful just the way you are."
For the past decade, the tyre company have stuck to featuring nude or almost-nude women and seeing the latest work of Peter Lindbergh is oh, so refreshing.
What goes on behind the scenes, the shoots, the stories and the personalities of the 2017 Pirelli Calendar can be found on the dedicated website here.
Remember, be your own kind of beautiful, because that is evergreen.
What a powerful message, what a truly memorable experience this is.
Not just of any other calendar, but the iconic 2017 Pirelli Calendar.