The concept for an annual calendar produced by the Italian tyres manufacturer Pirelli was born in 1962, when its UK subsidiary attempted to rival the parent company's sophisticated grasp of strategic advertising. Stellar work at magazines including Town and Vogue earned Terence Donovan the commission to shoot the first calendar in 1963. Its emphasis on including products in the images gave way in later years to concentrating on portraits of accessible, attainable girls, in line with the aesthetic of London-based style imagery of the 'swinging' Sixties. Print numbers soared during the 70s from 4000 to 40,000 as the calendar hit the mainstream. Since then, this highly influential bench-mark of popular Western erotica has undergone several design overhauls and shifts in ideological focus.

Toning down its sexual content to avoid criticism from the burgeoning second-wave Feminist movement at the start of the 70s, employing a woman photographer (Sarah Moon) in 1972 -crucially, the first to show naked breast- and banning studio photography in the mid-90s, the Pirelli calendar has consistently attempted to lead of contemporary formations of femininity. For this year's calendar, photographer Nick Knight and Art Director Peter Saville have shifted the focus from men's desires to those of women. In fourteen conversations with eminent women, Knight has constructed different narrative for each month, based on the womens' most intimate sexual fantasies. At the beginning of each month of 2004, SHOWstudio will devise an interactive experience founded on the image of the month.

To tantalise further, Knight has refused to betray the womens' confidence, leaving us guessing at the author of each fantasy. We may not know whose is whose, however, but we do have their names: Björk, Catherine Deneuve, Tracey Emin, Marianne Faithfull, Heidi Fleiss, Emma Forrest, Courtney Love, Stella McCartney, Catherine Millet, Aimee Mullins, Isabella Rossellini, Emmanuelle Seigner, Liv Tyler and Elizabeth Wurtzel.


Listen to Nick Knight at the Pirelli calendar launch

Project credits

Image
Direction and Photography: Nick Knight
Art Direction: Peter Saville
Fashion Direction & Styling: Katy England
Models: Adina Folhin @ Next Managment, Dewi Dregon at Elite NYC, Natalia Vodianova at DNA Management
Make Up: Val Garland
Hair: Sam McKnight
Set Design: Gideon Ponte
Casting: Jennifer Steer
Digital Effects Consultant: Paul Hetherington
Digital Imaging: Alan Finamore at Epilogue
Retouching Assistance: Martin Smith
Executive Production: Charlotte Wheeler
Production: Sam Gainsbury and Anna Whiting
Make Up Assistance: Charlie Pichon and Mac Assistants
Hair Assistance: Eamonn Hughes
Hair Colour: Nicola Clarke
Nail Design: Marion Newman
Fashion Assistance: Sidone Barton
Prop Stylist: Tess Bartlott
Set Design Assistance: Ed West and Nigel Pollock
Scenic Painting: Karen Griffiths
Rigging: Stefan Kopek
Special Effects: Bob Smoke
Photographic Assistance: Ben Dunbar-Brunton, Dominic Cooper and Haita Wohler Olaen
Production Running: Sam Queen and Laura Whiting
Casting Assistance: Chelsea Woo
Character Casting: Layton & Norcliffe

Interactive
Interactive Design & Development: Ross Phillips
Art Direction: Paul Hetherington
Editorial Direction: Penny Martin
Studio Installation: Shona Heath
Project Design: Paul Bruty
Info Text: Penny Martin
Editorial Research: Charlotte Morse