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.

CR Fashion Book Issue 4: Fairy Tales

CR Fashion Book Issue 4: Fairy Tales
By Sarra Salib

The theme for Issue 4 of the bi-annual CR Fashion Book is "Fairy Tales" in which Carine Roitfeld takes as her subject some of our most children's beloved stories, tales that we revisit again and again even as adults to relive our favorite childhood memories, or perhaps to escape from the harsh reality even if only for a short while. The stories featured included "Beauty and the Beast," "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "The Empress’s New Clothes," "Fairy Tale Theater," and Carine’s favorite, "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," which makes her cry. 

As we know by now, the work of Carine Roitfeld is enduring and iconic because it shies away from anything that celebrates the mundane or the status quo. In CR Fashion Book Issue 4 there was a twist added to every editorial, and these innocent stories we know so well were transformed and punctuated by Carine’s French accent mark, if you will. And that is actually one of Carine’s many talents: taking something innocent and revamping it into something provocative and politically incorrect. What else do we expect from the queen of porno chic?

In "Fairy Tales," we see a stark juxtaposition of brightness, hope, love, and smiles against loss, darkness, and ominousness. The cover stories convey those themes of brightness, lightness, and love. Lindsey Wixson’s E.T. cover photographed by Carine’s crony Sebastian Faena could not be more spot on. Gracing the reverse cover are Gigi Hadid (who could easily be mistaken for Kate Upton’s twin sister) with Shayne Cureton as shot by the legendary Bruce Weber. With perpetual smiles on their faces, Cureton and Hadid represent the ultimate fairy tale love of Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix in their ultra-hippie rock ‘n’ roll Sixties prime. 

Contrary to these lights and smiles, we see "Ferocious," a dark and sinister take on the classic "Beauty and the Beast," starring the now Carine regular Kate Upton as photographed by Karl Lagerfeld. "Ferocious" is captioned “Once Upon a Time Beauty Met Beastly and Liked It.” The photographs are eerily reminiscent of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, with Upton being Estella and the table setting being something that you would expect to find in the humble abode of Miss Havisham. Adding to this element of darkness is the apparent tragedy that Beauty did not end up living happily ever after with the object of her affection.

Another noteworthy editorial in Issue 4 of CR Fashion Book is “The Seven,” Carine Roitfeld's witty, modern, tongue-in-cheek take on "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." The story features Ashleigh Good and a diverse cast of smiling children playing their appropriate role as the seven dwarfs, and is shot by Carine’s longtime friend Pamela Hanson. The description to "The Seven" sets the vision for the editorial: “Ashleigh Good stars as part workaday mom, part contemporary Snow White. She makes for a magical, magnetic vision of motherhood.” Perhaps this is Carine's homage to her daughter Julia — granted Julia has only one child and not seven... I think yes!

Although this is a rather belated review of CR Fashion Book Issue 4, it is still appropriate because it proves how Carine’s work remains relevant and will remain relevant even down the line. Moreover, she proves that you may pick any theme you wish, use fashion and creative talent, and turn it into your own story for others to enjoy. In her "Fairy Tales," Carine combines and juxtaposes ideas of happiness and light with darkness and gloom to create memorable images with an array of established and new talents. Rounding off "Fairy Tales" was a fun task, and we cannot wait to see what theme Carine Roitfeld explores for the hotly anticipated Issue 5 of CR Fashion Book.

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Editorial images and illustration by Illustration by Donald “Drawbertson” Robertson © 2014 CR Fashion Book.