We sat down with photographer Solve Sundsbø and actress Gwendoline Christie to break down this year’s edition.
Over the last decade the Pirelli Calendar has shifted to focus on spotlighting women as seen through an avant-garde, narrative-focused lens. From 2016’s Annie Leibovitz’s incarnation which included the likes of Yoko Ono and Serena WIlliams to last year’s iteration by Ethan James Green, which offered a softer, more natural focus starring Hunter Schafer, Victor Cassel, and more, every release is a chance for photographers to push their artistic vision. Now, for 2026, the company has enlisted boundary-pusher, Norwegian photographer, Solve Sundsbø as their next visionary.
2026 is the year of natural elements, yet this theme chosen by Sundsbø doesn’t lead to an Earth, Wind & Fire situation, but rather an expression of the power and energy that defines each of the women portrayed through natural elements. With a diverse cast that spans from Isabella Rossellini to Venus Williams to FKA Twigs, the women span genres and generations. One of the stars to note? Gwendoline Christie, as the actress has been collaborating with Sundsbø for years. She’s featured in the calendar as ether, the element that brings it all together.
10 Magazine USA sat down with Sundsbø and Christie to chat about the calendar, working together, sensuality and nature.
2026 Pirelli Calendar by Sølve Sundsbø
1. What was the first thought that popped into your head when you got asked to shoot the 2026 calendar?
Solve Sundsbø: How do you verbalize a thought? I was extremely happy; very proud.
Gwendoline Christie: I was very excited. It’s an honor to be asked to be part of the Pirelli calendar alongside these extraordinary women. I just felt so thrilled that Solve wanted to include me in his vision for this classic object.
2. What role does fashion play in this year’s calendar?
SS: Fashion can be so many things – it can be clothes, it can be an attitude, or an environment. Fashion always plays a part in what we do. Most of the pictures don’t have a lot of fashion but in Eva’s (Herzigova) pictures it’s everything for the image. So, fashion is definitely present.
GC: We were working with the stylist Jerry Stafford who has been a long-term creative collaborator of mine, so it was real joy to be together again, and I love that there are suggestive elements of fashion within the calendar, though it isn’t something that is at the forefront. It’s more about a woman’s power.
3. How was working together?
SS: The people I choose to work with are those I love collaborating with because of who they are and not just because of their amazing appearances. It’s especially because of their personalities and professionalism, so it was a pleasure.
GC: I love working with Solve! I was a huge admirer of his before we started working together 10 years ago, and every time we shoot, it’s a very respectful, empowering and fulfilling creative experience. He’s always funny, a delight, and so kind.
4. How did you express sensuality in the calendar?
SS: Sensuality is all about attitude, it’s not about a color a place or a person. It is all about the attitude.
GC: I think sensuality is energetic, it’s within all of us all of the time, and it’s up to us when we choose to call it forward. For me it’s about being present and in touch with my circumstances.
5. If you could bring an artist back from dead to shoot with you for the Pirelli calendar, who would it be?
SS: I would love to collaborate with Monk, the Norwegian painter, that would be more than tricky but very interesting. As a person to photograph I would love to shoot Renée Perle who was Jacques-Henri Lartigue’s muse.
GC: I would say someone like Salvador Dalí. What he did with Hitchcock on Spellbound was fascinating and I would love to see how he would work with Solve.
6. Are you an outdoor person? How do you connect with nature?
SS: I’m definitely an outdoor person and the more I’m outside the happier I am. I live in London, and I love the city, but I would love for it to have mountains all around.
GC: I love nature and I increasingly love being in it — it’s part of why I love my role in Severance so much, because I get to frolic with the goats! And nature is a great reminder to us of an essential life force, where balance means harmony.
7. Out of the elements featured in the calendar, which one would you be able to control?
SS: It would be great to control water, you can make it snow, rain or to swim. And it would be good for the world.
GC: I loved being ether. As Solve said to me, it’s the element that holds everything together and it is connectivity. I would want to control it to bring about ultimate peace.
8. What is your go-to song or genre to listen to on set?
SS: It depends on the situation, but I love a sad song which is never good for a shoot, so that’s tricky.
GC: The Cocteau Twins — that was the sort of delicate, ethereal sensuality that ether was conjuring. And I happen to know that Solve loves the group, so starting in a place where you are both happy brings about good energy.
9. Three words to describe the Pirelli calendar legacy?
SS: Sensual; a pantheon of great photography; and a beautiful object.
GC: Classic; sensual; and invigorating.
10. Where would you like to put the calendar at home?
SS: We just redecorated the kids’ old playroom into a nice room for us to sit in and relax, so I will put it there.
GC: Oh, I’m going to be wallpapering the wall with it! I’m genuinely so thrilled.
