Retracing the Pirelli Calendar's backstage story lets you penetrate the heart of an idea and get a feel for its exclusive production process.
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On a beach at dusk in Brazil, in the shadows of a hotel room in California, in a village of Corsica beneath the sweltering midday sun, under powerful spotlights in a Manhattan loft, in the humid reflection of a home in Shanghai, surrounded by the dust of time amidst the temples of Paestum, in the insidious waters of the Okavango River delta, in an artfully-lit study in Paris: the Pirelli Calendar was shot in the most varied places on earth, in search of special lighting, moods and emotions, always with the desire to express beauty in all of its forms, nuances and essence. The magic of the backstage story is a fundamental element of this production process. It is halfway between the selection of the idea and the final result: The Cal™. Much more than a simple behind-the-scenes peek, the backstage story opens a window onto the Pirelli project. It shows how the idea is developed, how the calendar is made, and it provides an opportunity to create a connection, allowing one to understand how artisan craftsmanship and the most sophisticated technologies coexist on the set of the world's most famous calendar.
The backstage story narrates the creative moment through images. Precisely like the industrial culture of Pirelli, where the factory is not just the place for creating a product but the identifying soul, the organization of the manufacturing culture that makes a difference, the backstage story of the Calendar is proof of continuous research.
With the touch of the world's best photographers and the active participation of the protagonists of the photos – from the worlds of entertainment, fashion, sports, art and show biz – a vision takes shape in these special places that is destined to generate a global communication process.
That's why the backstage story opens a marvellous pop-up. Browsing through it and enjoying its spectacular videos means penetrating the heart of an idea and having the chance to get a feel for the soul of The Cal. It lets you understand why Peter Beard travelled through Botswana for days just to find the right tree for immortalizing his idea; why Steve McCurry chose a certain neighborhood of Rio to make the expressions of his portraits even more intense; why Annie Leibovitz chose that particular mottled canvas backdrop for her work; or why Karl Lagerfeld wanted to tell the story of his mythological idea surrounded by the walls of his library.
All this is the backstage story: a new perspective that creates a connection within a vision that has made history.
