The thirty-fifth edition of "The Cal", the first ever realized in Asia, is an exceptional visiting card to bring the world of Pirelli to the public of the Orient.
The 2008 Calendar is set entirely in Shanghai: the picturesque streets of the old French Concession, the splendid gardens of the former British Legation, the mysterious and sensual atmosphere of forbidden China, the convulsive Nanjing Road and the characteristic tea houses constitute the background for the camera shots that will grace the coming months.
The twenty-three intense portraits (two for each month; August has just one) recount the pomp of ancient China, with its splendour and the colours in which the Oriental myth of female beauty - perfection, purity, grace - is searched out. "Very often I find Western people seem to go for the more cliché Chinese faces: long hair, slanted eyes. All that has changed I think. Many Chinese women are graceful; I think we have an inner grace that's more rare than you find in the West," affirmed Maggie Cheung, the well-known Chinese actress.
Patrick Demarchelier, the influential maestro of portrait photography, who for the second time authors the celebrated almanac (his first Pirelli Calendar was shot in 2005 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) said: "The casting was a fascinating mix between the West and the Orient: an interesting group of faces."
Shooting last April kept eleven models and actresses occupied for ten days of intense work that involved a troupe of more than 40 people.
The leading ladies of this edition are rising stars such as Agyness Deane and Lily Donaldson (UK), Doutzen Kroes (the Netherlands), Catherine Mc Neil and Gemma Ward (Australia), Sasha Pivovarova (Russia), Coco Rocha (Ireland) and Caroline Trentini (Brazil). The Calendar also features Chinese beauties like Mo Wan Dan and Du Juan and one name in particular stands out: Maggie Cheung, the celebrated actress and Asian beauty, known internationally for her acting in Police Story (1985), Super Cop (1992), Actress (1992), Chinese Box (1997), In the Mood for Love (2000) e Hero (2003).