It’s your typical overcast, brisk afternoon in London, and the Mandarin Oriental in Hyde Park is buzzing. A day before the 2025 Pirelli Calendar is revealed to the world, Vogue is on site at the hotel for a first look—and to hear from a handful of the talents who brought the project to life.
Titled “Refresh and Reveal,” next year’s calendar marks the 51st iteration, and, in keeping with the theme, its subjects were shot in barely there ensembles, if not entirely nude.
“I look at the pictures and I’m very happy with how it turned out,” says photographer Ethan James Green. Not only did he shoot the 2025 calendar, but he was also instrumental in selecting its stars. “We started with people that I have personal relationships with that were more like guaranteed yeses,” he explains, adding that from there, he cast a relatively wide net. “When you’re doing a project that [has] so much nudity, it’s not a clear path of who you’re going to be able to get. [But] then you end up with people who really want to participate in making images like that. You can’t approach work like this without it being that way.”
Styled by longtime Vogue editor Tonne Goodman and set in Miami—both on the beach and in the studio—the calendar features a diverse, influential cast spanning the worlds of television, film, fashion, and art: Simone Ashley, John Boyega, Vincent Cassel, Elodie Di Patrizi, Connie Fleming, Martine Gutierrez, Hoyeon Jung, Padma Lakshmi, Hunter Schafer, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Jenny Shimizu, the latter of whom appeared in the 1997 Pirelli Calendar shot by Richard Avedon. It also features James, who, having photographed a group of people willing to strip down for the camera, decided it was only fair that he do the same.
Ahead of the calendar’s release today, James, Goodman, Boyega, and Lakshmi all gathered at the Mandarin Oriental to discuss putting it together.
Ethan James Green on being asked to shoot the 2025 Pirelli Calendar:
“I was super excited; I found out on my 34th birthday. I was not expecting it. It’s a huge thing to be asked because as a photographer, you’re included in a club, in a way, and you’re part of the history of the calendar. So many of the photographers in the past have been huge inspirations for me, and many of them made me want to be a photographer. So to be able to be included in that, it just feels like a huge milestone. I’ve had such an exciting career and it’s just nice to have a new thing. The last time I felt this good was probably my first Vogue cover.”
How Tonne Goodman approached styling the calendar’s minimal looks:
“To say that it was a challenge is the wrong word, because for me, a challenge means that you’re fighting against something. But it really wasn’t that. I approached Ethan very early on and I said, ‘Is it about fashion?’ Because there was a lot of fashion that displayed a lot of transparency. Saint Laurent did everything sheer and I thought, should I use that? And Ethan said, ‘No, I don’t want to do any fashion; I don’t want fashion to be part of it at all.’ And then I just thought, okay, but I have to have something—there has to be something that they can relate to, that they feel sensuous in, that they can let it slip off their shoulder or they can let it blow away or they can let it get wet. And that does not really smack of fashion at all. It just smacks of something beautiful that becomes part of them and part of the art piece.”
What Padma Lakshmi thinks when she hears “Pirelli”:
“Every time someone says Pirelli, I don’t think tires, I think calendar. I think beautiful fashion photography, I think beautiful, tasteful, artistic pictures, always exalting the female form.”
The previous Pirelli calendars that resonated with James:
“I would say [Richard] Avedon’s two calendars [in 1995 and 1997] and then Herb [Ritt’s] first calendar [in 1994]—those were the ones that kind of got me the most excited. Looking through all the calendars, they stood out as very timeless. They didn’t feel any less relevant than I think they would’ve felt when they came out.”
What John Boyega thought of his wardrobe:
“At first I was like, ‘Wait, where’s the rest of it?’ But then, obviously, they explained everything and what it was going to be, and I was just like, I’ve never actually done anything like this. For me, it’s just a time to have a new experience and to step into a new space. With the fashion world, I’ve always been on the outside looking in. I tap in when I do the magazine shoots, but you’re clothed and you’re in something snazzy, so you rely on the clothes to be the canvass, in that sense. But with this, it just felt like a new thing to just hop and skip and do, and something I’m going to show my kids as they cringe.”
Why Goodman enjoyed shooting on the beach:
“When you’re in the studio, you have control. On the beach, you have no control whatsoever—if the tide’s going to come in or the tide’s going to go out or the sand is going to get you… you have to really be able to embrace whatever comes your way. And that was sort of the fun of it and made it a very organic experience, which is perfect for when you are without any clothes on.”
Boyega on the similarities between acting and modeling:
“Acting is quite a naked process. You do have to have a certain element of confidence to do it. You’re in front of a crew who don’t act. Sometimes it can be a little bit cringey and you kind of can cave into yourself. But acting is a confidence thing, and I think that each role, as [I’ve become] more confident in front of the screen, has led me to be able to take part in diverse things and different types of projects, this included. That requires a level of self-acceptance and thinking you’re quite good-looking.”
How Lakshmi’s upbringing and modeling background prepared her for the shoot:
“I was a model in the ’90s. I did a lot of lingerie and it was very difficult when I first started, because I come from a very conservative, orthodox, Hindu, middle-class family from South India, and they were not happy at first. But my mother, in our home, raised me to always feel comfortable in my body and was somebody who was very comfortable with her body. She wasn’t ashamed of her body in the house. We bathed together. I had a very, I think, natural, comfortable relationship with my body and other people’s bodies. So I was very comfortable doing these kinds of pictures.”
Why James decided to model for the calendar:
“Because we had multiple women be fully nude, we needed [some guys] to do it. The only person I could tell to do that was myself, and I guess that’s how we landed there.”
Boyega on shooting the calendar in the midst of training for a role:
“This is the most air I’ve felt in between my legs on a set. I’ve taken clothes off onscreen before, but that feels more controlled—it’s more about embodying somebody else. At the time [the calendar was shot], I was halfway through a workout regime, so I was still quite weighty. I wanted to do a shoot that embodied where I was, and I wanted something to mark that time. I was just training every day and eating bland food, and to experience something that embodies where you’re at and show you in the process, that’s just really important for me.”
Why Lakshmi loves working with James:
“I had worked with Ethan before. I actually picked him to shoot my lingerie campaign earlier this year, and I loved working with him. I loved how collaborative he was, I love how safe he made me feel, but I also trusted his good taste. I think he’s an extraordinary photographer, especially when you consider how young he is. If Avedon and Meisel had a baby together, it would be Ethan. He loves the classic lines, but he’s also very good about challenging our perceptions of what beauty is and trying to expand that.”
The calendars Boyega grew up with:
“My dad had calendars growing up of preachers, Nigerian preachers. Nigerian megachurches used to print these calendars: January, the month of success; February, the month where you would defeat your enemies…and it would just be the preacher in different suits. If you go into a Nigerian household, you’ll see it hung up on some little shitty screwdriver that your dad has created. So it was that, it was never this.”
Boyega’s beauty and wellness routine:
“Drink water and mind your business.”
Editor's Note: Interviews where edited and condensed for clarity.