In this week’s newsletter: Stars such as John Boyega have stripped off for racy shots, but insiders wonder how it lands in the post #MeToo era

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A man, naked aside from a pair of tiny briefs kneels in the sea as waves crash into his muscled torso. A woman stands on a shoreline, nude except for a fallen palm tree covering her chest and pelvis. Another kneels unclothed in the sand, covering herself with a broken frond. These scenes may sound as if they’re ripped from a Jilly Cooper novel, but they are, in fact, shots from another emblem of unabashed sexuality: the latest Pirelli calendar.

Launched on Tuesday and featuring celebrities including John Boyega, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hunter Schafer and Simone Ashley, it is the latest calendar by an Italian tyre company that, for all its flaws, has become an unlikely cultural bellwether. It is not available to buy, but is sent to corporate clients and friends of the brand.