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Above: Photographer Peter Lindberg's interpretation
of the 2002 Pirelli Calendar paid homage to Hollywood and to
seduction. For the first time actresses were used instead of
models, dressed with lingerie by Giorgio Armani. The shoot took
a week on the city street back lot of Universal Studios with
a crew of nearly 100 people, with enough time and budget to
film a movie. Above, sexy young actress James King from Pearl
Harbor on the Universal Studios city set in the pose that was
her calendar page shot. We're still waiting for the video that
never was.
The
Pirelli Calendar
the world's most exclusive and expensive pinup
calendar
from the word's biggest tire manufacturer
That's
exactly what tire manufacturer Pirelli (who also owns other
major tire brands including Metzeler and General Tire) has
been doing for the past 40 years. They produce the world's
most lavish, sexy and expensive calendar that most mere mortals
will never have an opportunity to own or even see except on
the web or in a book years later.
Pirelli's
2002 Calendar (see the photo above) featured Hollywoods hottest
young actresses including Julia Styles (10 Things I Hate About
You, Save the Last Dance, Bourne Identity), Mena Suvari (American
Beauty) , Rachel Lee Cook (Josie & the Pussycats), Lauren
Bush (neice of the President), Erika Christensen (Traffic),
Bridget Moyanhan (Coyote Ugly, Sum of all Fears), and our
favorite James King (Blow, Pearl Harbor, Lonestar State of
Mind).
The
world's largest tire maker has been producing the world's
most expensive nude pinup calendar as a promotional
giveaway since the 1964. It's always a lavish production,
usually featuring the world's top supermodels photographed
by one of the world's premier photographers, usually
in a large 20" square format with high qaulity
design and printing. Pirelli's worldwide distributors
usually have to pay $40 each cost for the calendars
which they purchase from the Pirelli head office in
Italy, and in turn Pirelli gives them away as Christmas
promotional presents to their favorite people, distributors
and the motorsports media.
In
Italy and the rest of Westerm Europe the nude body and
beautiful women are appreciated openly in public as
art and good taste. Here in America where sexual harrassment
lawsuits and personal injury attorneys run rampant,
the Pirelli calendar is very exclusive and nearly impossible
to find. You have to know someone directly at Pirelli
USA to get one. Sometimes you can find an old one on
E-Bay that a previous recipient is selling off if you'ld
like to get one for your own pinup calendar collection.
For
comparision, our own FastDates.com like Garage Girls,
Fast Dates and Iron & Lace cost about $10,000 each
to photograph and produce because they have to stand
alone as being a profitable product to sell. That includes
the cost of models, makeup and styling, clothing from
Victoria's Secret and swimsuit companies, shooting location
and travel costs, film and processing. Not included
is the cost of our photographer and producer, calendar
design, printing and advertsing which runs between $20,000
to $30,000 additional per calendar. And
then once finished, you've only got 5 months to seel
the calendar and turn a profit. Not very easy.
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Above:
Jessica Miller loosens up for the 2003 Pirelli Calendar.
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2003
Pirelli Calendar
For the 2003 Pirelli Calendar (samples of the
shots, shown above) it was fashion photographer Bruce Weber
who got top boy and girl supermodels topless. Included was Yamilo
Diaz-Rahl who just also happened to be on the cover of the 2003
Sports Illustarated Swimsuit magazine and calendar. Plus there
we a lot more supermodels including Victoria's Secrect model
Heidi Klum, all in the all- together photographed ina rural
Italian village. The candid style shots are pretty boing, there's
no concept or tie-in to Pirelli tires, but hell, Bruce only
had a Million Dollar shooting budget to work with...
The 2003
calendar features some of the most celebrated top models from
throughout the world: Sophie Dahl, Yamila Diaz-Rahi, Isabeli
Fontana, Bridget Hall, Heidi Klum, Karolina Kurkova, Natalia
Vodianova, Sienna Rose Miller, Lisa Seiffert. And, as is now
traditional, there are also some up-and-coming faces, such as
Filippa Hamilton, Jessica Miller and Rania Raslan.
Above:
Teen models Natalia Vodianova and Frankie Ryde chose their own
photo theme for their calendar picture. Born in Gorky, Russia
to a poor street vender, Natalia (center above) was discovered
by a model agent and moved to Paris where she now represents
Gucci, Kalvin Klein and L'oreal, and has been featured on the
cover of every major fahsion magazine in the world.
2004
Pirelli Calendar
On
November 2003 at the historical Royal Courts of Justice building
in London, the 2004 Pirelli Calendar was presented to the press,
to collectors and to enthusiasts the world over. The annual
event is one of the world most awaited by lovers of photography,
fashion and beauty, an exclusive event that traditionally blends
art with seduction. This year's issue was special: it marks
the 40th anniversary of the Pirelli Calendar, a "must have"
symbol, a true icon of beauty.
The 2004
Pirelli Calendar is highly innovative in its technique and artistic
expression,and in its selection of protagonists fully confirms
the canons of 40 years of tradition (Say what?).
It profiles
innovation and technology at the service of artistic creativity
of Nick Knight, world-famous British photographer who made visual
sculptures, born of a symbiotic relationship between traditional
photography and digital art. His taste, combined with an approach
typical of "conceptual art", have produced an unprecedented
Pirelli Calendar that is vibrant in its color, abstract in its
design and magical to the eye.
Knight posed
his models in an ambience that is dreamlike and fantastic but
unequivocally feminine in which the perspective of portrayed
female sexuality - as traditionally perceived by men - is reversed.
"I feared that the calendar might propose a vision of woman
from the exclusively masculine viewpoint," Knight explains.
"So for this project I decided to ask the women what they
would like to see represented in a Pirelli Calendar, leaving
them to choose the theme."
This year
the Calendar is embellished by a line-up of some of the world's
most highly touted models, some of whom participated in previous
editions: Maria Carla Boscono, Karolina Kurkova, Natalia Vodianova
and Jessica Miller in 2003, Frankie Ryder in 2001 and Alek Wek
in 1999 and 2000. They are joined by Liberty Ross, Amanda Moore,
Pollyanna McIntosh, and promising "rookies" Dewi Driegen,
Esther De Jong, Ai Tominaga and Adina.
The
Pirelli 2005 Calendar
So
how can you get a Pirelli Calendar? You probably can't. Pirelli
Corporation sells the calendars to their distributors around
the world at a cost of around $40 each. The distributors, in
turn, give them as promotional gifts to the media, their distributors
and friends. In a country like America where there is such a
huge hangup over nudity and an employer can be sued for sexual
harassment if they hand out or display a nude calendar in the
workplace, Pirelli USA buys and gives away only a handleful
of calendars to special industry friends. Once in a while you
can find an old Pirelli Calendar on Ebay.com, but your change
of getting a current calendar is next to impossible.
The
Pirelli
Calendar Book and Website is your best opportunity to see
what you've been missing.
Perhps
someday Pirelli will offer their calendar for sale internationally
through their website. But for now, you can find detailed information
and pictures from the Pirelli Calendars on the Pirelli website
at Pirelli.com
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