Pinups for the auto elite
2005 Pirelli calendar - highly desired but hard to get

Since 1964, the Italian tire maker Pirelli has produced a promotional calendar that combines art, fashion, culture and photography. Conceived as an alternative to ho-hum marketing materials, the Pirelli calendar is a sexy showcase designed to satisfy both sports car owners and the mechanics who work on them. Whether it helps the company sell more tires is an open question. But the calendar does reinforce a fashionable image for Pirelli -- no mean trick in a business as unglamorous as tires. On November 18th 2004, at the Copacabana Fort in Rio de Janeiro, was revealed the world premiere of the Pirelli 2005 Calendar, the most exclusive world event for beauty lovers, fashion followers and photography connoisseurs. Shot by world-renowned French photographer Patrick Demarchelier, the 2005 Pirelli Calendar has chosen the spectacular setting of Rio de Janeiro - a city dominated by strong contrasts which required a masterly use of light to express these strong contrasts and obtain striking portraits, black and white only. The result is a truly unique version of the Pirelli Calendar, made up for the first time of 22 pages. The Calendar closes with a lively collage of shots "stolen" by the great photographer in a famous Rio discotheque, during the party that concluded the shooting. The calendar is not for sale. Instead it is handed out as a promotional tool by Pirelli to select suppliers, distributors and clients. "It's a huge deal," said Michelle Leo from Ford Models, one of the premier agencies in the world. "All the top models have been in it."

Past models include:

 
Cindy Crawford - December 1994.



Milla Jovovich - February 1998.



Kate Moss - Jjanuary 1994.

The years usually have themes, such as 1987's calendar dedicated entirely to black models, in which a 16-year old Campbell


Naomi Campbell- September 1987.

In 1998, the calendar featured men for the first time. That one included shots of Ewan McGregor, B.B. King, Kris Kristofferson, John Malkovich and Bono


Bono - July 1998.