Amy Schumer, Patti Smith, Serena Williams and More Star In the New Pirelli Calendar

For many years, the Pirelli calendar has become associated with (often risqué) images of beautiful models and celebrities (just check out these leather-clad, TnA-baring pics from last year's shoot of models like Gigi Hadid, Carolyn Murphy, Raquel Zimmerman, Joan Smalls, Adriana Lima and more) but this year the brand has decided to feature women who are equally as beautiful inside and out. Forgoing the usual crop of models, they've instead tapped icons and role models like Patti Smith, Amy Schumer, Serena Williams, Yoko Ono, Tavi Gevinson, Fran Lebowitz, Agnes Gund, Ava Duvernay, Yao Chen, Natalia Vodianova (the only one who's appeared in the calendar before), Mellody Hobson, Shirin Neshat and Kathleen Kennedy to star in the latest calendar, shot by Annie Leibovitz (who previously shout the cal in 2000). “I started to think about the roles that women play, women who have achieved something," Leibovitz said of the shoot. "I wanted to make a classic set of portraits. I thought that the women should look strong but natural and I decided to keep it a very simple exercise of shooting in the studio. This calendar is so completely different. It is a departure. The idea was not to have any pretense in these pictures and be very straightforward.”

The calendar will make its debut in London on November 30th but it will also live on a digital site starting October 20th. In the meantime, get a sneak peek at some behind-the-scenes photos below.

Tavi Gevinson