The 2012 Pirelli Calendar

For most every year since 1964, Pirelli, the Italian tire maker, has bankrolled a very unusual, very expensive promotional calendar. It typically involves a coterie of the world’s hottest models jetting to an exquisitely remote clime — the Seychelles, say, or Botswana — to be photographed, nude, by an elite fashion photographer. The calendar began inauspiciously as a pinup that grease monkeys would post at continental service stations. But just like in the case of Michelin’s influential guidebook, it took on a life of its own and now its connection to motoring seems completely incidental. (One must give props to all these European tire makers for their enduring contributions to world culture; the best thing our own Goodyear has come up with so far is a blimp.)

This year, the mythical calendar was photographed for the first time by a native son of Italy, the Naples-born Mario Sorrenti, who set upon nearby Corsica with his former flames Kate Moss and Milla Jovovich, not to mention some highly coveted young beauties. (Several of these — Lara Stone, Joan Smalls, Rinko Kikuchi — have appeared very recently in the pages of T.)  Sorrenti’s calendar is peculiar in that each woman is not assigned to a month; instead, the calendar is constructed as a canvas-lined portfolio of 25 prints, which can be mixed and matched with a given month: Milla for March, Lara for May, whatever you fancy.

Happy New Year!! !