The illustrious calendar’s casting director, Jennifer Starr, has confirmed that Italian photographer Mario Sorrenti is 2012’s Pirelli man, Stylecaster reports.

Other fashion sites, including Fashion Copius and Fashionologie, had previously assumed that Steven Meisel would capture next year’s edition.

Karl Lagerfeld, Terry Richardson, or Patrick Demarchelier were chosen to shoot the calendar, which is commissioned by Italian tire company Pirelli, in past years.

Sorrenti, who is best known for his artful nudes in the pages of magazines such as Vogue, is expected to bring back a high-fashion feel following Lagerfeld’s timelessly elegant and Richardson’s sexually provocative pictures.

This year’s model cast, which regularly includes the freshest and most famous of faces, has not been confirmed.

Pirelli’s calendar gets released at the end of the year, but only to a handful of the company’s clients and business partners.

A more accessible option is French Vogue’s yearly calendar, for instance, which is just as racy and fashionable and which also enlists the world’s top photographers and fashion models.