Karl Lagerfeld’s Pirelli calendar is getting lots of press for his inclusion of Julianne Moore in the famous nude periodical, and for his introduction of naked men. But what’s potentially more interesting is Lagerfeld’s gender-bending depiction of Freja Beha Erichsen.
The Pirelli calendar has been a bit of a mess lately. Peter Beard’s dead animals and naked ladies theme was creepy; Terry Richardson’s Brazilian beach babes effort was cheesy and, like a lot of Richardson’s work, trying way too hard.
Who would have thought that superannuated Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld could rejuvenate the form? Especially given Lagerfeld chose to work within a theme — ancient Greek and Roman mythology — that is almost as quaint as the notion of producing a no-expense-spared print calendar of nekkid ladies for a select group of VIP customers. Luckily for Pirelli, I suppose, the very fact that the calendar’s circulation is strictly limited (Prince Andrew is said to be on the list) means that this “exclusive” publishing event generates headlines and makes the calendar a vehicle for “branding.” You can’t buy the Pirelli calendar, and — like a dude who only responds to one text out of three — that’s part of its mystique. You can, however, see the images readily online.
So Pirelli makes, essentially, a more expensively produced version of the girlie calendar that hangs in the bathroom of your local auto shop. It’s certainly not the kind of venue where one would expect to find a picture of a nude woman, model Freja Beha Erichsen, posed front on to the camera, wearing a golden codpiece.
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