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December 2, 2015

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Pirelli gives calendar a feminist makeover

Source: AFP | December 2, 2015, Wednesday | Print Edition

TOPLESS women out, female luminaries in: the latest edition of the famously titillating Pirelli calendar presented in London by US photographer Annie Leibovitz has won praise for its feminist makeover.

The Huffington Post’s UK edition called the images “inspiring” and “stunning,” while the Daily Telegraph said the calendar had “swapped sex for substance.”

“It might only be pinned up at some enlightened garages, but the Pirelli calendar has signalled a break with history,” Adam Sherwin wrote in The Independent yesterday.

“Beautiful, gross, strong, thin, fat, pretty, ugly, sexy, disgusting, flawless, woman. Thank you @annieleibovitz,” tweeted comedian Amy Schumer, one of the subjects of the black-and-white photo shoot.

The calendar presented on Monday features 12 “women of achievement” instead of the usual supermodels, including John Lennon’s 82-year-old widow Yoko Ono, tennis star Serena Williams as well as Chinese actress Yao Chen.

“It shouldn’t be such a big step but it is,” Leibovitz said.

Launched in 1964 as an annual giveaway for garages that sold Pirelli tyres, the calendar is a glossy celebration of feminine curves and has become integral to a brand that has been described by one analyst as the Prada of the world of burning rubber.

In an interview earlier this year, Pirelli chief executive Marco Tronchetti had a reassuring message for fans of the annual collection of pictures of scantily-clad supermodels shot by leading photographers.

“It is the one thing Chinese, Italians and Russians can all agree on — we’ll never give it up,” Tronchetti said.

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