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Björk, Nick Knight, Tracey Emin, Emmanuelle Seigner, Elizabeth Wurtzel, Courtney Love, Catherine Millet, Catherine Deneuve, Aimee Mullins, Heidi Fleiss, Isabella Rossellini, Liv Tyler, Marianne Faithfull, Ross Phillips and Stella McCartney

Pirelli Calendar

For the 2004 Pirelli calendar, photographer Nick Knight and art director Peter Saville shifted the focus from men's desires to those of women. From fourteen conversations with eminent women, Knight constructed narratives for each month based on their most intimate sexual fantasies. The specific author of each remains a secret, but their fantasies are explored here in groundbreaking interactives.

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About

The concept for an annual calendar produced by the Italian tyre 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: the emphasis on including products in the images, however, 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 1970s from 4,000 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 1970s, employing a woman photographer (Sarah Moon) in 1972 - crucially, the first to show naked breast - and banning studio photography in the mid-1990s, the Pirelli calendar has consistently attempted to lead contemporary formations of femininity. For 2004's calendar, photographer Nick Knight and art director Peter Saville shifted the focus from men's desires to those of women. From fourteen conversations with eminent women, Knight has constructed different narrative for each month based on their most intimate sexual fantasies. At the beginning of each month of 2004, SHOWstudio released an interactive online experience founded on Nick Knight's corresponding image for that 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.

Credits / Contributors

  • Björk Björk
    Musician
  • Nick Knight Nick Knight
    Film Director
  • Tracey Emin Tracey Emin
    Artist
  • Emmanuelle Seigner Emmanuelle Seigner
    Actor
  • Elizabeth Wurtzel Elizabeth Wurtzel
    Writer
  • Courtney Love Courtney Love
    Musician
  • Catherine Millet Catherine Millet
    Writer
  • Catherine Deneuve Catherine Deneuve
    Actor
  • Aimee Mullins Aimee Mullins
    Actor
  • Heidi Fleiss Heidi Fleiss
  • Isabella Rossellini Isabella Rossellini
    Actor
  • Liv Tyler Liv Tyler
    Actor
  • Marianne Faithfull Marianne Faithfull
    Actor
  • Ross Phillips Ross Phillips
    Multimedia Designer
  • Stella McCartney Stella McCartney
    Fashion Designer

Image

  • Direction and Photography: Nick Knight
  • Art Direction: Peter Saville
  • Fashion Direction and Styling: Katy England
  • Models: Adina Folhin at Next Managment, Dewi Dregon at Elite NYC, Natalia Vodianova at DNA Management
  • Hair: Sam McKnight
  • Make-up: Val Garland
  • 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: Marian 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 and Development: Ross Phillips
  • Art Direction: Paul Hetherington
  • Editorial Direction: Penny Martin
  • Studio Installation: Shona Heath
  • Info Text: Penny Martin
  • Editorial Research: Charlotte Morse

Related Shop Items

  • Nick Knight and Alister Mackie
    Underwear No.5
    2011
    £1,000
  • Nick Knight and Alister Mackie
    Underwear No.2
    2011
    £1,000
  • Nick Knight
    Nick Knight (Book)
    2009
    £50

Related Projects

  • Fashion Film
    Soft Furnishings
    Apr 20 2009
  • Fashion Film
    Boned
    Sep 27 2007
  • Interviews
    Advent
    Dec 24 2004
  • Interactive
    Forget-me-not
    Apr 3 2002
  • Interviews
    In Camera
    Aug 21 2009

Related Blog Articles

  • on 17 November 2006
    Unveiling of the new Pirelli Calendar #2
  • on 17 November 2006
    Unveiling of the new Pirelli Calendar #3
  • on 17 November 2006
    Unveiling of the new Pirelli Calendar #4
  • on 17 November 2006
    Unveiling of the new Pirelli Calendar #5
  • on 17 November 2006
    Unveiling of the new Pirelli Calendar #6

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