Carine Roitfeld: Pirelli 2015 Calendar

Carine Roitfeld declared fetish the theme for Pirelli's Calendar Girls 2015 and Steven Meisel and twelve of the world's most beautiful women submitted to her wishes… As one might anticipate, the result is sexy, fun, and loaded with latex.

When asked about her vision for the 2015 Pirelli Calendar, Carine Roitfeld shared: "We decided to abandon the idea of the seasons and ended up taking the photos just for the pleasure of taking them. We tried to convey an idea of fashion in the pictures by focusing on details that would make the models look even sexier than their bodies alone could do. We would not be content just to show naked girls… As a material, latex is a recurrent element in the shots: it’s beautiful, it's versatile, and it has a sheen that makes it alluring… All of them [the models] knew that Steven would be able to transform them, to make them stunningly beautiful, to portray nudity with no trace of vulgarity… Sometimes, to show a bit of fashion is even more sexy than to be totally naked. I think that is the point of this calendar."

To celebrate the launch of Pirelli's Calendar Girls 2015, an exhibit titled "Form and Desire — The Pirelli Calendar Collection" opened at the Palazzo Reale in Milan, a retrospective of more than 200 photographs culled from the Pirelli archives on display through 19 February 2015.

Here are the twelve lovelies that made Carine Roitfeld's list for 2015:

Miss January: Adriana Lima
Miss February: Natalia Vodianova
Miss March: Joan Smalls
Miss April: Candice Huffine
Miss May: Carolyn Murphy
Miss June: Anna Ewers
Miss July: Cameron Russell
Miss August: Sasha Luss
Miss September: Karen Elson
Miss October: Isabeli Fontana
Miss November: Gigi Hadid
Miss December: Raquel Zimmerman

See Carine Roitfeld discuss her experience directing the Pirelli 2015 Calendar in this behind-the-scenes video and also enjoy a brief promotional video.

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Pirelli Calendar images © 2014 Pirelli. All Rights Reserved.

Carine Roitfeld: Pirelli Calendar 2015

Carine Roitfeld: Pirelli Calendar 2015
By Bernie Rothschild

The Pirelli Calendar 2015 will be styled by the legendary Carine Roitfeld and photographed by Steven Meisel. It is the first time that the calendar will feature plus-sized models and will include Joan Smalls, Anna Ewers, Adriana Lima, Candice Huffine, Raquel Zimmermann, Gigi Hadid, Isabeli Fontana, Carolyn Murphy, Karen Elson, Natalia Vodianova, Cameron Russell, and Sasha Luss. The 2015 Pirelli theme is "FETISH" which is synonymous with the style of Carine Roitfeld. Her love of bondage fetishism is deeply associated with the way she dresses and reflected in her photo shoot styling. She even themed the 2007 Vogue Paris calendar bondage also featuring Karen Elson as photographed by David Sims which shows her love of eroticism chic.

Carine has been working with Steven Meisel a lot lately (which makes me wonder why they didn't work together during her time at Vogue Paris). It was also Roitfeld and Meisel who were responsible for the first campaign of Tom Ford for YSL Rive Gauche and I assume that it was Carine who conceptualized and styled the controversial Opium campaign featuring the naked Sophie Dahl.

Although it is the first time for Steven Meisel to photograph the prestigious Pirelli Calendar, it is the second time for Carine. She styled the 2001 edition of the calendar featuring the top models of the new millennium as photographed by Mario Testino in Naples, Italy. One thing that is noticeable is every model's silhouette looks very much like Carine Roitfeld's personal style. The high heels, the nudity, the cigarette dangling, the black dresses. Carine is really the queen of erotic and hedonist chic! She seems to be the female reincarnation of Tom Ford with a touch of Helmut Newton. I'm really very excited to see the 2015 Pirelli Calendar which is due in November and, for sure, it will be one of Carine's "greatest hits."

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Pirelli Calendar images © 2014 Pirelli. All Rights Reserved.

Carine Roitfeld: VMAN Calendar

In February, Carine Roitfeld served as guest editor for VMAN Magazine and I am sorry it has taken so long for me to get around to discussing it. In addition to styling the editorials for the magazine, Carine created a 2012 calendar of Victoria's Secret models that was every bit as sexy as her infamous Vogue Paris calendars. I want to applaud Carine for effectively taking up the slack of her successor at Vogue Paris, Emmanuelle Alt, who denied readers the pleasure of the annual calendar this year as well as the beloved concept of a guest editor with her December issue.

In case you missed it, I have added Carine's VMAN calendar to the archive, featuring models Doutzen Kroes, Joan Smalls, Lily Donaldson, Miranda Kerr, Adriana Lima, Izabel Goulart, Candice Swanepoel, Ana Beatriz Barros, Alessandria Ambrosio, Anne Vyalitsyna, Chanel Iman, and Karolina Kurkova as photographed by Willy Vanderperre.

I would also like to take this opportunity to look back at a few of the calendars produced by Carine during her reign at Vogue Paris, including my personal favorite, the imaginative 2008 VP calendar which has hung in a spot of honor on my wall since December of 2007 when it arrived with the Charlotte Gainsbourg issue.

Which of Carine's Vogue Paris calendars is your favorite? What do you think of her calendar for VMAN?

2007 Calendar
Karen Elson by David Sims

2008 Calendar
Catherine McNeil, Isabeli Fontana, Lara Stone, and Natasha Poly by Mario Sorrenti
Make up and body painting by Mario Sorrenti and Tom Pêcheux

2009 Calendar
Jourdan Dunn, Ali Michael, Georgina Stojiljkovic, Erin Heatherton, Eniko Mihalik, Anna Maria Jagodzinska, Lakshmi Menon, Anna Selezneva, Aline Weber, Hanne Gaby Odiele, Arlenis Sosa Pena, Alana Kuznetsova, and Taryn Davidson by Terry Richardson wearing lingerie and shoes by Louis Vuitton

2010 Calendar
Iselin Steiro, Natasha Poly, and Raquel Zimmerman by Mario Sorrenti at the Lido in Paris 

2011 Calendar
Daria Werbowy by Mikael Jansson wearing jewelry by Louis Vuitton

VMAN calendar image © 2012 VMAN, LLC. Vogue Paris calendar images © 2007-2011 Condé Nast

Vogue Paris 2011 Calendar Preview

Time for a new Vogue Paris calendar and thanks to the VP web site we have a look at the cover. It appears as though fashion did not actually play a role in this year's calendar starring Daria Werbowy wearing jewelry by Louis Vuitton and little else. Mikael Jansson photographed the 2011 calendar.

Vogue Paris 2011 calendar image © 2010 Condé Nast. All Rights Reserved.

Vogue Paris 2010 Calendar

Iselin Steiro, Natasha Poly, and Raquel Zimmerman were photographed by Mario Sorrenti at the Lido in Paris for the Vogue Paris 2010 calendar. The disco glamour theme of this year is certainly a sharp contrast to last year's pinup girls, they appear nearly prim by comparison. As another critic noted, where does fashion fit into the picture? I understand the concept of making art using girls, but this calendar barely includes clothing or accessories.

Vogue Paris 2010 calendar image © 2010 Condé Nast. All Rights Reserved.