The Pirelli Calendar, as if it were possible, appears to have gotten even more seductive and sought-after, following the unveiling of the VIP-only 2025 edition at London’s Natural History Museum.
This year’s jaw-dropping calendar features icons from every walk of life, including writer and model Padma Lakshmi, actress and model Hunter Schafer, Italian singer Elodie, South Korean model and actress Hoyeon and even daring turns from the likes of Star Wars hero John Boyega and French actor Vincent Cassel.
Suffice to say, there’s no shortage of eye candy in this year’s “Refresh and Reveal” edition, shot by noted photographer Ethan James Green. Green looked to update and revamp “the classic beach-shoot origins of the iconic Cal,” the Italian manufacturer said, and an eye-popping first glance shows he was, well, quite successful.
A star-studded cast always tends to grace the pages of the ultra-exclusive, high-end calendar, once dreamed up by the Italian tire manufacturer as a “corporate freebie” of sorts, one that’s since taken on a life of its own for its seductive, sultry nature. The calendar itself is now distributed exclusively to celebrities, top Pirelli customers, and other global VIPs.
A who’s-who of the world’s most famous models have since appeared in the eye-catching calendar since its 1964 debut (interrupted but briefly by a nine-year hiatus ending in 1983). Last year’s edition sought “to go back to the etymological root of the word ‘muse,’” said its photographer, Emma Summerton.
This time around, the the 2025 offering is Green’s attempt to “communicate empowerment and self-expression, enabling each individual’s essence and ‘true self’ to shine through.”
Of the concept, Green, a noted fashion photographer, said his approach marks “a refresh because we’re going back to the beginnings of the Calendar and updating it. And a reveal because we’re returning to this idea of showing skin, which is one way of capturing someone’s true self.”
When it comes to the cast of famous, well-toned and well-heeled models in front of his lens (which also includes British actress and bombshell Jodie Turner-Smith), Green said “these are the people I see as very beautiful,” and an early glimpse at the latest and greatest edition of the famed calendar certainly verifies that sentiment.
The calendar, which was captured over two shoots in May and June at Miami’s Historic Virginia Key Beach Park, features each model in a pair of portraits (one in color and one in black-and-white), with Green drawing inspiration from 1990s calendar photogs Richard Avedon and Herb Ritts.
Of his approach, Green said that leaning on past Pirelli calendars “was a big part of what I wanted to achieve… to create something people can look back on in 20 to 30 years’ time that isn’t going to feel dated and hopefully will be referenced in the future,” he said, adding that “the world has changed so much since the last time Pirelli had a really sexy Calendar.”
“I was excited to explore how we see beauty now and who is considered beautiful within the classic Pirelli Cal arena—in the studio and on the beach,” Green said. The results, exemplified by a simple approach to the beach shoot with minimal props found in nature, practically seem to speak for themselves. With beauty in every page, and with an air of exclusivity known only to a select few, the Pirelli 2025 Calendar is indeed both a reveal and a refresh.
