Pirelli announces an inspiring line-up for this year’s calendar

A calendar for the 21st century.

Under usual circumstances the Pirelli calendar is reserved for the sexiest woman on the planet, usually dressed head to toe in not much at all. Last year featured beauties Joan Smalls, Sasha Luss, Karen Elson and Gigi Hadid leaving little to the imagination. This year however, the brand has decided to take a step in a new and more progressive direction. And we, for one, couldn’t be happier.

The 2016 calendar will feature portraits of influential women who are making a difference in the world, shot by the talented Annie Leibovitz. The impressive line-up includes Yoko Ono, Patti Smith, Serena Williams, Fran Lebowitz, Amy Schumer, Tavi Gevinson, Ava DuVernay, Natalia Vodianova, Agnes Gund, Kathleen Kennedy, Mellody Hobson, Shirin Neshat and Yao Chen.

Leibovitz commented on the upcoming series, saying, “I started to think about the roles that women play, women who have achieved something. I wanted to make a classic set of portraits. I thought that the women should look strong but natural, and I decided to keep it a very simple exercise of shooting in the studio. This calendar is so completely different, It is a departure. The idea was not to have any pretense in these pictures and be very straightforward.”  

The final calendar will be unveiled on November 30. In the meantime, you can view the teaser above.