As it is now tradition, Pirelli inaugurates the coming year a month in advance, presenting its iconic and timeless calendar in the first days of December.
Industry insiders and passionates in matter know this well: the annual publication of the Pirelli Calendar is a real ritual in the world of fashion, which has marked the history and evolution of beauty in all its facets since the 1960s involving universally known fashion photographers, such as come Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, Annie Leibovitz, Karl Largerfled, Tim Walker, Inez & Vinoodh, Peter Lindbergh, Bruce Weber.
There are also countless celebrities, among actresses and models, who have posed over the years for the various editions of the Pirelli Calendar, from Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell to Sophia Loren, Julienne Moore and Uma Thurman, just to name a few. “Looking for Juliet” is the title of the project by the photographer Paolo Roversi for the 2020 edition of the Pirelli Calendar.
This edition of The Cal, as it is named in confidential manner, turns out to be important for several reasons, not least that of being the first edition realized by an Italian photographer. In fact, Roversi took the opportunity to celebrate the Italian spirit of the Pirelli company itself, developing its photographic project in the city of Verona, home of Juliet, one of the most intense and delicate Shakespearean female figures of the literary scene.
The calendar consists of 132 pages, with the date on the cover, excerpts from Romeo and Juliet and 58 photos, in color and black and white, depicting the protagonists and the city of Verona. But that is not all! In addition to the calendar, an 18-minute short film focusing on the story of Juliet was also produced.
“There is a Juliet in every woman and I will never stop looking for her.” The photographer states. “It’s a story about how love has the power to transform people since in just four days Juliet transforms herself from an innocent girl in a rebel “.
Thus Roversi shows with its Pirelli Calendar that love and femininity have many faces but only one name, that of Juliet. Specifically, the faces are those of some formidable women: Claire Foy, Mia Goth, Chris Lee, Indya Moore, Rosalía, Stella Roversi, Yara Shahidi, Kristen Stewart and Emma Watson that have interpreted and explored the character of Juliet in front of the lens with very personal and different perspectives and attitudes, putting in the background the sensual and erotic element that historically accompanies the Pirelli Calendars and bringing forward an ideal of emancipation and narrative complexity that the Pirelli’s creative department has undertaken in recent years.
The “Looking for Juliet” project expresses the constantly evolving soul of The Call, combining the charm of a poetic figure of the past with contemporary forms of beauty that include activism, cultural diversity and a healthy dose of feminism.
