After the MeToo parenthesis, nudity returns for models

The legendary Pirelli calendar, known for its particularly naked models, had dressed its models again with the MeToo movement. Now it is reconnecting in an assumed way with eroticized nudity.

The Pirelli calendar was launched by the tire manufacturer Pirelli in the 1960s. The aim, from the beginning, was to offer it to major customers in a limited edition. Over the years, it has become cult, with its photos of women, models, and actresses naked, often very sexualized.

Against the backdrop of the MeToo movement, Pirelli is being criticized for its calendar featuring lascivious poses, open mouths, with models who are most often thin, young and white. So Pirelli no longer wants to hear that it is the only reflection “of a certain masculine desire”. In 2016, we are witnessing a clear change. No more legs spread in front of the lens, no more women sitting on a bike with red latex thongs, sports socks and stiletto heels. Behind the lens, there is the American photographer Annie Leibovitz: black and white, with bodies most often clothed. And when we see a lot of skin, it is to show something else, like the extremely muscular black body of Serena Williams or bodies with rolls. In 2017, Peter Lindbergh immortalized Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman in tank tops and jackets. Many portraits, without makeup, give another image of women and sensuality.

But for the year 2025, Pirelli is communicating on the return of the “naked” and of “sexy”These are the words used by the photographer chosen for this edition: Ethan James Green, a former model in his thirties, whose work on identity and sexuality is recognized. “When I was contactedhe told reporters invited to attend the photo shoot on a Florida island, I immediately thought: ‘If I’m going to do Pirelli, I want to do Pirelli’.”

Of “classic” as he says, “sexy”with transparent dresses and tiny swimsuits: from the “sensuality”he specifies, but at the same time, no vulgarity, “of elegance”. “MeToo has really forced everyone to take a break, which is really good.”he explains in the Guardian. But “It’s time for celebrities to get naked”with, he assures, models who have total control over what they put forward. These models are, for example, the actors of Star Wars or of The Bridgerton Chronicle.

But if we look at the calendars of the last ten years, the nude had not completely disappeared, for example in 2019 or in 2023. In this Pirelli campaign, there is therefore an element of “publicity stunt”, with the idea that showing one’s body, getting naked, is a takeover by women. Its spokesperson is one of the models of the 2025 edition: Elodie Di Patrizi, a Roman singer who explains in the Italian press that “We are all erotic. There is nothing unhealthy about it.” The body is here a tool of performance as a personal emblem, “to manifest my choices”she said. The schedule should be presented by the end of the year.