The Pirelli calendar has transformed into a "following the dream of women"

As an Italian century-old tire company, Pirelli is not necessarily well known, but it has done its best in the sideline - the annual calendar. Since 1964, it has become a visual feast that people look forward to every year with an artistic calendar and a star-sized model. On December 5th, the 2019 Pirelli calendar was officially released in Milan, Italy. This time, with the theme of "Dream", I used the photos in the almanac to tell four stories about women chasing dreams and achieving goals.

The Pirelli calendar has worked with a number of photographers over the past 50 years, and this year's mirror is Albert Watson. One of his eyes is congenitally blind, but he is still one of the most prolific photographers in the world. This time in order to surpass the portrait, he also shot four micro-movies in addition to forty photos, corresponding to four women with dreams and distinct personality.

Julia Garner plays a photographer who loves nature and loves to be alone. Gigi Hadid plays a woman who thinks about the future, while Misty Copeland plays a dancer who is eager to be the star of tomorrow. Laetitia Casta plays a painter full of dreams. Alexander Wang, Calvin Royal III, and Sergei Polunin are the male partners of the last three actresses.

“When people watch this calendar, I hope they can see my intention: to explore women under the lens in the purest form of photography, and to express the positive vision of contemporary women through context,” Watson said.

It seems that the “transformation” of the Pirelli calendar has gradually embarked on track.

Three years ago, it was still playing pornography, and half-naked or naked female stars showed a bloody body, which has been the case for decades.

Just like Michelin's introduction of the Michelin Guide, Pirelli launched its calendar in 1964 to increase profits. At that time, most of the sales channels were tire sales. Every year, Pirelli will invite famous photographers to take their personal ideas and ideas into the annual calendar. The shooting elements are often related to cars or tires. For example, photographer Uwe Ommer in 1984 used this element to add traces of tires to the hips of the model.

In the early 1980s, mainstream society began to accept the image of nude models in the public eye. As a result, the fabrics of the "Pirelli" have become less and less, so that the almanac gradually evolved into high-end pornography in the hands of high-ranking people and businessmen, and the female stars are eager to become the "monthly girl" in the calendar. .

The Pirelli calendar is not only popular with male readers, but even female readers yearn for the girl's body in the calendar. However, some people are not accustomed to this phenomenon, such as the New York Times, which is ridiculed after the Pirelli calendar is listed every year. In 1969, The New York Times said bluntly that the Pirelli calendar is actually a soft erotic book.

The Pirelli calendar has changed in 2016. The photographer of that year was Annie Leibovitz, who finally surpassed the body's appeal to the person with her personal charm in the photo. Opened the calendar, the singer Patti Smith dressed in vest, button shirt and military boots; fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson wearing a knee-length satin black shirt, looks like a scholar who attended a holiday cocktail party in the Middle Ages Actor Amy Schumer wears only panties and high heels, holds a latte, sits in front of the camera, and Yao Chen wearing a simple white shirt and jeans.

The New York Times also changed its mind this year: "The 2016 Pirelli calendar will symbolize a cultural shift."

In 2017, this style is still continuing, and it is straightforward to take "the talent is greater than the beauty" as the main body. For the third time, German fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh filmed the Pirelli calendar, letting 14 world-famous actresses wear the most plain clothes, showing them in front of the camera in a completely plain state, and there is no PS in the later stage. They showed a rare diversity, with an average age of 44, and Zhang Ziyi was among them.

In 2018, the Pirelli calendar extended the beauty of women's diversity to a deeper level, all of which enabled black models. Designed by the British version of Vogue's fashion editor Edward Enninful, fashion photographer Tim Walker takes the lead in reshaping Alice in Wonderland.

Even though the almanac production cost is high, with its popularity and collection value, it is still an efficient marketing tool for Pirelli. Gioacchino del Balzo, consultant of the Pirelli Milan area, told the Financial Times that the annual cost of manufacturing the calendar is about $2 million, but they did a calculation, if the annual calendar’s publicity effect for the company’s brand was converted into With the same media value, the annual income can reach 3-350 million US dollars.

In 2017, Pirelli's turnover exceeded 5.3 billion euros, with more than 14,600 points of sale in more than 160 countries. After being acquired by China National Chemical Corporation in 2015, it currently has nearly 4,000 employees in China.