Last night, at the Nuvola Lavazza Central, a preview of the Lavazza 2025 Calendar “Let’s Blend! 130 YEARS FORWARD”. An event celebrating the company’s long history and the concept of blending, which has always been in its DNA. This year’s edition bears the signature of French-Senegalese photographer Omar Victor Diop, one of the most interesting voices in contemporary photography. With his aesthetic rich in color and cultural influences, Diop has created a unique body of work that speaks of diversity and the meeting of cultures. Moderated by Federico Buffa, the event featured Francesca Lavazza, the photographer and some of the calendar’s protagonists Jannik Sinner, BigMama, Cino Zucchi and chef Federico Zanasi.
The visual language of Omar Victor Diop
The shots by the young photographer, born in 1980 for the Lavazza 2025 Calendar are a visual and narrative journey through four seasons, each dominated by key colors-blue, pink, green and ochre-that reflect the emotions and atmospheres of each time of year. Diop, known for his compositional elegance, used a palette of soft, nuanced tones, ideal to accompany the entire year: “The calendar cannot have aggressive colors because you have to live with them all year round,” explained the photographer, “the colors are very soft, but differentiated by season, such as pink for spring or the tropical green of summer.”
The photographer spoke about the importance of representing each participant as an individual portrait, but also as part of a collective narrative. “Drawing someone’s portrait is like writing a love letter,” he recounted, revealing how he was committed to expressing each person’s personality and story. Diop used a symbolic bench in all the images, which serves as a meeting place: this is where different cultures mingle, united by the pleasure of sharing coffee.
Cultural and generational blending: the message of Diop
Central to the calendar is the concept of blending: the idea of creating something new by mixing different elements. Diop talked about how he translated this vision visually into his work. “The main idea” he explained, “is that it doesn’t matter where you come from, what your background is; what you create and share is valued, respected and celebrated. This is the world I want to live in: a world where everyone is heard and seen.” A message of inclusion and openness, reflected in the faces of the 36 protagonists immortalised in the calendar shots.
The challenge of creating a choral image
One of the most intriguing challenges of this project for the photographer in our opinion was bringing together people from very different backgrounds: athletes, artists, chefs, architects, each with a unique story and identity. ‘When you are a photographer and people come into the studio in front of you, they are simply people,’ shared Diop. And it is precisely this humanity that shines through in his photographs: each shot is part of a larger narrative, a kind of sequence plan that tells small micro-stories, like molecules of a larger collective story.
The Lavazza 2025 Calendar is not just a tribute to visual beauty, but a manifesto celebrating inclusion and diversity, an invitation to discover the beauty of coexistence and mutual respect. Omar Victor Diop’s work for this edition not only captures the plurality of our age, but invites us to reflect on what really matters: the value of encounter and collaboration, which – like Lavazza coffee – is capable of uniting and warming people.
With its refined composition, its evocative use of colour and its profound respect for each individual protagonist, the Lavazza 2025 Calendar represents a milestone in the company’s journey, which for 130 years has emphasised the beauty of the encounter between cultures.
