How many teenage fantasies and workmen’s dreams have begun with a picture from a calendar? Miss August and Mr (whoever he) May (be) have kept smiles on the faces of innocent girls and jaded workers from January through to December – much is promised with a pout and a come hither look.
The cheesecake shots of the 1940s and ‘50s helped launch the career of Monroe and the Playboy empire. The emergence of the Pirelli calendar in the 1960s to its present day incarnation show the significance of the calendar as a marketing tool. We should not forget that the calendar has allowed teenage girls to have those who make their heart beat faster come into their bedroom every month of the year. A sultry stare and a little naked flesh will always leave your audience panting.
The calendar has long been used to titillate, celebrate and keep you from being late but it should not just be the exclusive wall decoration of the pubescent boudoir or the mechanics workshop. This is something that hangs on a wall all year round so why not make it as beautiful and as celebrated as a work of art?
The launch of Joanna Schlenzka and Daniel Baer’s Style Calendar should do just that.
Schlenzka started her career at Dazed & Confused and is now the fashion director of Mixte Magazine. Baer is a creative director who regularly works with leading fashion photographers and artists and his studio works with renowned publishers Phaidon and Aperture. Although they had previously met on a shoot for Prada, it was not until 2010 that they had the opportunity to collaborate on a project that would allow their tastes in fashion and image making to perfectly compliment one another. Their photography showcase “Centrefold” brought together Hans Feurer, Miguel Reveriego, Yelena Yemchuk and several other esteemed names in the photography and art world, to great success.
Now the talented pair have followed this up with the launch of the Style Calendar.
Both intrigued by beautiful, rare objects which have longevity – Joanna being fascinated by vintage fashion whereas Daniel takes his inspiration from old photography books – they felt that the calendar was their ideal vehicle. “We wanted to work on something that would give us the opportunity to showcase the work of as many different photographers as possible, and that could also serve as a platform for new emerging talent within the field, as well as some of the more established names that we had worked with in the past,” they say. “The idea of having an amazing image physically hanging on the wall for one month was very appealing to us, especially in an age where we get bombarded with so many new visuals every day (much of that online), and it seemed like the calendar could be a great project for all these different photographers to get their teeth into and show off their individual styles.”
A calendar will always have sentimental value as something to record time and place but, throughout history, it has also been an object of desirability. With beautiful images from fashion luminaries such as Miguel Reveriego, Daniel Sannwald and KT Auleta, the Style Calendar’s inaugural launch of a limited edition of just 1,500 makes it certainly something to lust after. It may just have you drooling like a teenage girl who’s just turned the page to Mr September or a mechanic who’s only just getting over Miss July.
The calendar will be available from October in leading retail outlets in London, Paris and New York. Alternatively order directly here