The new 2018 Pirelli calendar arrives and this time the author is the British photographer Tim Walker. The theme is the fairy tale of the English reverend Charles Lutwidge, Alice in Wonderland, over time the subject of many artistic interpretations.
Walker has also given shape to his own: 17 black protagonists from the world of fashion, music, cinema and the underground universe. Among these, the supermodel Naomi Campbell, in the role of the executioner of the Queen of Hearts. Alice is Duckie Thot, a 21-year-old Australian model of Sudanese origins.
The new director of British Vogue Edward Enninful, the first black to fill this role, collaborated with the British photographer as stylist, while Shona Heath took care of the scenography.
An intercultural calendar lightened from the usual standards, which gave space to new ideals of beauty from different countries: South Africa, Mexico, Ghana, Senegal, United States. Edward Enninful, the new director of British Vogue, acted as stylist, Shona Heath as set designer.
The new calendar also has a social and political value: Walker reiterated that "any girl, black or white, Chinese or Indian, has the right to her fairy tale".
It is not the first time that the Pirelli calendar opens up to the fascination of black leather: in the 1987 edition it was the turn of a sixteen-year-old Naomi Campbell with bare tops. At the time, however, it was an aesthetic choice, the search for an exotic beauty. Today, however, it is an increasingly strong sign of the commitment and openness that we have already seen for some years.
In 2016 Annie Leibovitz had portrayed successful women as sportsmen, singers and comedians, in clothes and of all ages; in 2017 Peter Lindbergh had photographed a group of actresses and a university professor, all dressed and aged between 27 and 71 years, focusing on emotion and personality rather than beauty and sensuality.
