Asian beauties in Pirelli 2008 Calendar

Making of Pirelli 2008 Calendar, click to watch

Maggie Cheung, Du Juan and Mo Wandan are amongst the three Asian beauties selected to appear alongside with Agyness Dean, Lily Donaldson, Doutzen Kroes, Catherine Mc Neil, Gemma Ward, Sasha Pivovarova, Coco Rocha and Caroline Trentini in the 35th edition of the 2008 Pirelli Calendar, dubbed “Pearls of the Orient”.  

The annual Pirelli Calendar is considered one of the most celebrated icons of corporate communication and is something of an institution by itself.  Each year the calendar is sent to VIPs whose relationship with Pirelli warrants the gifting of such exclusive swag.  And while different themes are employed for each calendar, they’re always based on beautiful women.

For the 2008 edition photographed by Patrick Demarchelier, there is no nudity at all and exposed skin is pretty much kept to a minimum. Instead, what you’ll see are the beautiful models in impressive costumes and intense makeup highlighting the oriental myth of female beauty.  

Of the three Asian beauties, I personally like the pictures of Du Juan most.  Her makeup and costume really brought out her classic oriental features very well and the combination of colors on her are definitely more exciting than Mo Wandan who look too ghostly for my liking.  And I wish they didn’t put Maggie Cheung in that severe looking geisha get-up.  The actress would have looked gorgeous in something more contemporary.   

Check out the 23 pages of beauties at the official website of Pirelli Calendar Club and see if you agree.

Comments

  1. Wei says:

    I like ur blog a lot and the topics that you write about are really interesting. I read it on a daily basis. I notice that you use the word oriental to describe Du Juan. The word oriental is a very offensive term but I understand your context. I just want to tell you that you should not use that word to describe someone. It should be used to describe objects.

    Wei: Hi, thanks for pointing that out to me. I’m not aware that it’s offensive because I’ve always thought oriental beauty means ‘Dong Fang Mei Ren’ (東方美人) in Chinese, which in effect is a compliment. I’ve seen it used in some of the media too. Is it offensive because it’s considered derogatory to use it on pple, like the way “Jap” is? I’ll need to be more careful in this case.

  2. Wei says:

    Yes you are right about how it is offensive like the way they use the word “jap”. Oh in chinese it sounds so much more nicer and not offensive. Your website is really helpful. Because of it I threw out most of my old make up, with out that entry you made I would not have known that my make up was pass two years old. But I kept the lipstick but i have not used it since I found the expiration date. What can I do with expired lipstick, I really dont want to throw them out? I have about 6 tubes that are my fave color.

    Thanks

    W

    Wei: Hmmm, I really don’t know what to suggest. But some lipstick can last a bit longer like 3 years. Still, I don’t have recommendations on what to do with expired lipstick apart from throwing them out. Art? *cough cough*

  3. Wei says:

    art? haha maybe.

    thanks

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