The new annual Pirelli Calendar looks different.
The 2018 edition features an all-black cast, shot by photographer Tim Walker. The theme: Alice in Wonderland.
Model Duckie Thot is Alice, Lupita Nyong'o is a dormouse, Whoopi Goldberg is the Royal Duchess, RuPaul is the Queen of Hearts and Naomi Campbell and Diddy play Royal Beheaders. The calendar also features models Djimon Hounsou, King Owusu, Thando Hopa and Adwoa Aboah.
"When we get the nod, it's all, 'Off with their heads!' That's how it will feel when people see these pictures too," Diddy told The New York Times. "In a positive way, obviously."
"I moved mountains to be a part of this," he added. "It is a chance to push social consciousness and break down barriers. For so many years, something like this would not have happened in the fashion world, so it feels like being part of history and playing an active role. I want to lead by example."
"The story of Alice has been told so many times and in so many ways, but always with a white cast," Walker said. "There has never been a black Alice, so I wanted to push how fictional fantasy figures can be represented and explore evolving ideas of beauty."
The stars were styled by Edward Enninful, the new editor of British Vogue.
"Inclusivity is more part of the conversation than it has ever been before, but it goes far beyond black and white," he told the New York Times. "It is about all creeds, all colors, all sizes and people just living their truths. A lot of this is about digital giving people voices, and a new generation who refuse to compromise and want answers to the questions that matter to them. Given the state of the world we live in, sometimes I think we all feel like we've fallen down the rabbit hole. For me, a retelling of ‘Alice' for the modern world was a perfect project, particularly once the cast fell into place."
The annual Pirelli Calendar has since the '60s features artistic, scantily-clad photos of models. But in the last couple of years, its creators have broken tradition. The 2017 Pirelli Calendar featuring Nyong'o as well as mainly white actresses such as Nicole Kidman, Kate Winslet, Helen Mirren, Julianne Moore and Uma Thurman, who were clothed and whose photos were unretouched.