Steven Meisel Keeps the Pirelli Calendar Fresh and Cheeky

by Chris Nelson

Pirelli calendars are best when cheeky and character-driven, like Steven Meisel’s just-released 2015 version. After all, the notion of having the world’s most well-respected and well-paid models bare their breasts (and then some) for the pleasure of the high-end Italian tire company’s unknown clients — not to mention the entire internet — is so outdated that it can only plausibly exist today as an ironic, artistic gesture. A lot like a fashion editorial, you could say, in which case it helps to have two other women at the top of their game on hand, stylist Carine Roitfeld and make-up artist Pat McGrath.

From cowboy to cheesecake, Meisel captured top models of today in exaggerated poses of yore. Natalia Vodianova, Russian mother of two, writhes coquettishly in a see-through teddy; TED Talk alumna Cameron Russell strums a ukulele with a Hawaiian flower in her hair; Brazilian bombshell Isabeli Fontana only needs a horse to make her cowgirl getup complete; plus-sized gal Candice Huffine returns to the calendar as a whip-wielding dominatrix; while Gigi Hadid, girl-of-the-moment and daughter of a Desperate Housewife, deflects the male gaze with her nipple-pierced armor…

January: Adriana Lima