Actress Amy Schumer and tennis superstar Serena Williams are among a group of outstanding women featured in the 2016 Pirelli calendar.
The latest edition of the Pirelli calendar, according to CNN, is filled with photos of 13 women of outstanding professional, social, cultural, sporting and artistic accomplishment. Other accomplished women who took part include Rookie founder Tavi Gevinson, artist and activist Yoko Ono, author Fran Lebowitz, musician and author Patti Smith, supermodel Natalia Vodianova, Lucasfilm chairperson Kathleen Kennedy, Chinese actress Yao Chen, business mogul Mellody Hobson, Frida director Ava DuVernay, art collector and MoMA PS1 chairman Agnes Gund with granddaughter Sadie Rain Hope-Gund and Iranian visual artist Shirin Neshat. They were shot by world-renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz in her New York study last July.
In the previous years, the calendar has earned fame for featuring a completely naked Kate Moss, Lara Stone and Joan Smalls. This is why when 77-year-old philanthropist Agnes Gund and 65-year-old Lebowitz were contacted to pose for the calendar, they thought it was a joke.
Since the calendar's birth half a decade ago, this is the first time Pirelli featured women who are fully-clothed but clad with exceptional resumés. Schumer was the only exception. She was shot wearing only underwear and heels with her arm strategically placed to cover her bare breasts.
The comedic actress cannot help but make a laugh out of her almost naked portrait. Last Monday, Schumer shared a photo on Twitter that shows her holding a coffee cup and sitting on the stool wearing only a pair of lace panties. She then captioned the photo, "Beautiful, gross, strong, thin, fat, pretty, ugly, sexy, disgusting, flawless, woman. Thank you @annieleibovitz."
Apparently, Leibovitz also enjoyed shooting the actress. The photographer shared, "I'm a great admirer of comediennes. The Amy Schumer portrait added some fun. It's as if she didn't get the memo saying that she could keep her clothes on."
The Pirelli calendar is not available for purchase to the public. It is only given out to the company's top clients and VIPs.
