Never sold, always given away to the chosen few...

It was back in the early 60s that a young go-getter in the advertising industry made the connection of men, cars and girls. And rubber, obviously.

Never sold, always given away to the chosen few, the annual Pirelli calendar was shot by some of the brightest stars in the photographers’ firmament. Herb Ritts, Bruce Weber and Richard Avedon, Annie Leibovitz, Sarah Moon - even Karl Lagerfeld, all were to work for the Italian tyre giant.

And the models were similarly famous. For 2014 Pirelli has selected some of the most celebrated photographers to shoot legendary beauties such as Alek Wek, Helena Christensen and Karolina Kurkova.