Pirelli launches covered-up 2017 calendar with top actresses

PARIS — Pirelli on Tuesday unveiled the 2017 edition of its famed calendar, which sees German photographer Peter Lindbergh move beyond snaps of semi-nude models and set his lens on Hollywood.

The calendar, entitled “Emotional” and launched in Paris, stars 14 Oscar-winning actresses featured in close up in black-and-white images and in mainly clothed poses.

It’s a dramatic move away from decades of risque shots that made the calendar produced by the Italian tire manufacturer one of the most recognizable in the world.

A roll call of A-listers including Charlotte Rampling, Uma Thurman, Helen Mirren, Nicole Kidman, Lea Seydoux, Alicia Vikander, Kate Winslet, Julianne Moore, Robin Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Rooney Mara and Jessica Chastain all agreed to go near-makeup-free for the grown-up shoots.

Speaking about his artistic choices, Lindbergh said that he’s “not so fond of high heels and bikinis” and wanted to capture the nakedness in the soul of the calendars stars, not their bodies.

Mirren, 71, said that the calendar’s move toward less sexualized images of women — begun in last year’s edition by Annie Leibovitz — marks “undoubtedly a cultural shift, a real opening up and a big change.”

Kidman, 49, added that the choice to forgo makeup and proudly look your age projects a good example of what natural beauty should be.

“[It shows that] the courage to be yourself is the epitome of confidence and power,” she said, adding that “my husband (singer Keith Urban) totally prefers me without makeup on.”

Kidman, Thurman, Mirren and Seydoux will join other celebrities at the gala launch of the Pirelli 2017 calendar Tuesday evening.

Associated Press