'This is history': Diddy praises 2018 Pirelli calendar for allowing 'talented black faces' to 'stand tall and proud' and for giving his daughters the chance to see an all-black cast shown as 'kings and queens'

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Sean 'Diddy' Combs highlighted the cultural significance of the newly unveiled 2018 Pirelli calendar during the launch in New York City on Friday, and praised the Italian tire company for featuring an all-black cast in its cult almanac for the first time since 1987.

The rapper posed along with Naomi Campbell, 47, RuPaul, 56, Whoopi Goldberg, 61, and other models, actors, artists and activists in the Alice-In-Wonderland-themed calendar shot in London by photographer Tim Walker.

During a Q&A session at the Pierre Hotel, Diddy raved about the concept behind the calendar, a retelling of Lewis Carroll's 1865 tale with model Duckie Thot as Alice, RuPaul as the Queen Of Hearts, and Goldberg as the Royal Duchess. 

Proud: Sean 'Diddy' Combs highlighted the cultural significance of the newly unveiled 2018 Pirelli calendar during the launch in New York City on Friday (pictured). He poses in the Alice-In-Wonderland-themed almanac with Naomi Campbell

Striking a pose: The team behind the calendar took a group shot during the launch at the Pierre Hotel in New York City. Pictured from left to right are Slick Woods, women's rights activist Jaha Dukureh, Zoe Bedeaux, RuPaul, Diddy, Adwoa Aboah, Campbell, Pirelli CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera, Wilson Oryema, Djimon Hounsou, Duckie Thot and Thando Hopa

Praise: Campbell, who has featured in four Pirelli calendars including the 1987 one that featured black women on all its pages, said the Milan-based brand has always been 'very conscious about what's going on in the world'

'We were born kings and queens,' he said, adding that images of this kind should have been taken 'a long time ago'.

'I think Pirelli was smart enough to see the future. This is the future. Black excellence,' he added.

Diddy, who posed as one of two Royal Beheaders along with Campbell during the shoot, pointed out that working on the project felt like 'destiny', especially since he's had Alice In Wonderland quotes tattooed onto his arms for five years.

'It was just so great to work with all these talented black faces and to really show our beauty,' Diddy, who has three daughters, said. 

'And we can't take images for granted. We can't take the images that have been flooded into our consciousness, and so to see us all together and to be standing tall and proud and to be able to be seen as kings and queens and part of an empire, that's something I want my little girls to see. It's important that they see these images and not the images that are always just portrayed.'

Campbell, who has featured in four Pirelli calendars including the 1987 one that featured black women on all its pages, said the Milan-based brand has always been 'very conscious about what's going on in the world'.

RuPaul explained that he feels that the calendar is part of a larger cultural movement, telling the audience: 'When a  butterfly transforms into its beautiful self from the caterpillar, the middle part of the transformation part is very violent. It's very confusing. And that's what we're witnessing now, on our planet right now. So this conversation, moving it forward, this transformation is a landmark and this calendar represents that.'

The Drag Race host also took a thinly-veiled dig at President Donald Trump by comparing him to the character he incarnates in the calendar, the evil Queen Of Hearts. 

'The Queen Of Hearts, I guess she's a villain because she's so impulsive and she's sensitive, which is very much like someone else who's in power right now, who's very sensitive, the ego is very touchy,' RuPaul said. 'These characters, they represent different aspects of all of us.'

Reference: RuPaul (right) took a thinly-veiled dig at President Donald Trump by comparing him to the character he incarnates in the calendar, the evil Queen Of Hearts

Veteran: Campbell has posed for four Pirelli calendars including this one; her first dates back to 1987 and featured exclusively black women

Important: Diddy invited the model Adwoa Aboah, who appears as Tweedledee in the calendar, to come and sit onstage with him, Campbell, RuPaul and Djimon Hounsou (left), who interprets the King Of Hearts

Stars: Aboah (left) also features on the first British Vogue cover by the new editor-in-chief Edward Enninful, who styled the calendar shoot. Albino model-lawyer Thando Hopa (right) features in the calendar as the Princess Of Hearts

For RuPaul, the theme of the calendar rang especially true. 'Alice In Wonderland, as someone who's been on both sides, is about the line between fantasy, fairy tale, and reality is blurred,' he said.

'That line doesn't actually exist. So we are in a very important time in the history of humans on this planet to be able to express that and go beyond where we've been before.

'This calendar is one of the first steps in that forward thinking, that forward motion for humans on this planet. I'm so excited to be a part of this. This is an important time. Mark your calendars, kids, from now on because things are changing.'

Also present was new British Vogue editor Edward Enninful, who styled the calendar shot by Tim Walker, and model Adwoa Aboah, who posed in the calendar and on Enninful's first Vogue cover revealed this week.

Diddy invited Aboah, who appears as Tweedledee in the calendar, to come and sit onstage with him, Campbell, RuPaul and Djimon Hounsou, who interprets the King Of Hearts, telling the model: 'This is black history.'

Asked whether he had been inspired by anyone else during the shoot, Diddy replied he had found inspiration within himself, by thinking about his ancestors. 

'When I'm in my castle with my kings and my princes, we're in that fantasy, it's something that you feel comfortable with because it's a part of us. It's part of our true history and it's a part of our magic,' he said. 'So I don't really have to channel anybody but the ancestors inside myself.'

Goldberg, who is about to turn 62, couldn't attend the launch because she was celebrating her birthday, but expressed similar excitement in a video message. 

'Just the idea that Pirelli said, "Oh, you know what? We think this is a worthwhile thing to do, and let's make it really spectacular", because most of the time people don't realize that people of color come in all colors, light, dark, kind of middle, kind of muddy, and then bright, so to see it all arrayed, it surpassed all of that,' she said.

'It became about Alice In Wonderland. And really, we're all in wonderland, aren't we? We're all trying to figure out what happens to us when we go down the rabbit hole. Because you come out your door and you're down the rabbit hole, and you're trying to figure out what to do. Should I drink this and hope for the best? Should I talk to this person and hope for the best? What happens when someone screams at me, "Off with her head"?'

Goldberg explained she 'never' thought she would be invited to feature in the prestigious calendar and was 'thrilled' to participate.

'I believe people will see me, or young girls will see me, or young boys will see me and say, "If she can do this, because she doesn't look like a whole bunch of people, maybe I can make it, I'm gorgeous and maybe I can make it. Because look at the face! Look at the smile. It's different. So if she can do it, I can do it," ' the actress said. 'I think that that is something that everybody wants. Everybody wants to believe that their dreams might be achievable.'  

Fish-eye effect: Diddy and Campbell play the two Royal Beheaders in the Alice-In-Wonderland-themed 2018 Pirelli calendar, but look much more like they are starring in a '90s hip-hop video

Down the rabbit hole: The calendar has an all-black cast, with model Duckie Thot taking on a starring role as Alice

The royals: RuPaul plays the Queen of Hearts and Blood Diamond star Hounsou plays the King of Hearts

More royals: Goldberg and Hopa stand in as the Royal Duchess and Princess of Hearts, respectively

Taking her role seriously: Campbell looked glamorously threatening as she posed as one of the Royal Beheaders

Duo: Diddy and the supermodel looked positively regal during their joint photo shoot as the Royal Beheaders

Having a disagreement? Campbell at one point curled her left hand into a fist, suggesting the Royal Beheaders might not see eye to eye on everything

Milestone: The model and Diddy are part of the first all-black cast to have starred in a Pirelli calendar since 1987

Thot, who plays Alice herself, can be seen in the hotly anticipated calendar posing upside-down with her feet on the ceiling in a too-small house after downing the magical Eat Me cookie.

RuPaul looks fabulous and menacing in a red dress as the Queen Of Hearts, while the King of Hearts (played by Blood Diamond star Hounsou) stands nearby. In another shot, RuPaul presides over a royal court, clearly not one to be messed with.

Campbell and Diddy as the Royal Behaders look nearly indistinguishable from a pair of stars in a late-90s rap video save for the axes in their hands.

'That bold statement by Pirelli, I think, really goes against any ignorance,' Diddy said in a behind-the-scenes video. 'People of color all over the world need to know that they're kings and queens, and I think that story of Alice in Wonderland puts that in that proper perspective.'

Goldberg was photographed as the Royal Duchess along with albino model-lawyer Thando Hopa as the Princess of Hearts.

'When you think of the Pirelli calendar, I'm not the face that comes up,' Goldberg said. 'I know that. But girls, little girls like me wait to see someone who looks like me in a calendar. So, ta-dah!'

Rounding out the cast are model Slick Woods as the Mad Hatter, Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o as the Dormouse, American Honey actress Sasha Lane as the Mad March Hare, stylist Zoe Bedeaux as the Caterpillar, women's right activist Jaha Dukureh as the Wonderland Princess, model Adut Akech as the Quene of diamonds, and rapper Lil Yachty as the Queen's Guard.

Models Alpha Dia, King Owusu, and Wilson Oryema each play both gardeners and playing cards, while King also plays Tweedledum. 

Star-studded: Behind-the-scenes photos were first unveiled this summer

King of Hearts: They gave a peak at the whimsical set and costumes

Something different: New British Vogue editor Edward Enninful styled the shoot, which features an all-black cast 

Queen of Hearts: Reality TV star and drag queen RuPaul looks breathtaking as the fearsome red queen

The Mad Hatter: Taking on one of the best-known roles of the story is American model Slick Woods

Owning it: RuPaul (pictured center as the Queen Of Hearts) admitted it took a lot of 'moxie' to pull off his costume

Representation: 'When you think of the Pirelli calendar, I'm not the face that comes up,' Whoopi (pictured with Hopa) said. 'I know that. But girls, little girls like me wait to see someone who looks like me in a calendar. So, ta-dah!'

Three-dimensional: Nyong'o was glad to be working with Walker, whose cinematic approach to photography agreed with her actor's mind. 'It's really cool to be in a moment where it's not just about the sexuality of my body,' she said

Enninful got involved after Walker reached out to him to pitch the concept, at which point Enninful said taking part in the project was a 'no-brainer'. 

'It seemed like such a simple idea, the retelling of Alice in Wonderland with an all-black cast,' the Vogue editor added, looking back on the genesis of the calendar.

Walker realized that the story of Alice In Wonderland had been told many times in the past, and this wanted to go back to the 'genesis' of the story told by Lewis Carroll during the 19th century.

The calendar is Campbell's fourth, and she noted that she did one in her teens, one in her twenties, another in her thirties, and the present one in her forties. 

'I'm just really happy as I'm someone that fights every day for balance and diversity in the modeling world. So to see this happen is absolutely beyond my wildest dreams,' the supermodel said.

Diddy told more about the Alice In Wonderland quotes tattooed on his arms, which include a bit of dialogue that enabled him to put his 'own take' on the narrative. On his bicep, a conversation between Alice and Sean can be read, with Alice saying 'This is impossible' and Diddy responding: 'Nothing is impossible.'

The calendar also marks the first time Thot has worked with Walker, whose work she has always admired. She became so excited when he walked her through his concept she felt like she was having a 'mini heart attack'. 

RuPaul was equally enthusiastic about stepping into the Queen Of Hearts' shoes. 

'I'm so excited about my gorgeous costume that Edward has created for me,' he said. 'It's a lot of costume, and it takes a lot of moxie to pull it off. I think I can handle it though.'

The Drag Race host deemed being asked to be part of this year's calendar 'quite an honor', especially given the 'iconic' people he got to work with. 'But also just the story of Alice straddling two worlds and coming to terms with these two worlds and learning to navigate... I think it's very telling for anybody who's alive today,' he added.

Nyong'o was glad to be working with Walker, whose cinematic approach to photography agreed with her actor's mind. 

'It's really cool to be in a moment where it's not just about the sexuality of my body but it's about the intelligence, the sensuality, sometimes the innocence, the complication of my experiences as a human being,' she said.

Dukureh, who is better known for her work as an activist who raises awareness about female genital mutilation, child marriage, and violence against women, didn't expect to be asked to take part in the glamorous project. 

'Being here represents the untold stories of millions of girls who would never get an opportunity to do something like this,' she said.

She praised Walker for seeing her for herself, instead of solely as a victim of female genital mutilation. 'People want to feel sorry for us but no one actually sees us,' she said, adding that the photo shoot was a chance for her to form another support network. 

Creative team: Photographer Tim Walker and new Vogue's Enninful were seen discussing the shoot in a behind-the-scenes photo

Setting up for a shot: American actress Sasha Lane (left) as the Mad March Hare and Duckie Tholt as Alice (right)

Tea party: Duckie Thot (left), Slick Woods (right) and Sasha Lane (center) are photographed by Tim Walker on the London set

Dynamic duo: RuPaul and Djimon Hounsou were a perfect pair of vengeful royals

Playing card gardeners: Senegalese-German model Alpha Dia (left) and British model King Owusu (right) in costume

Whimsical: Jaha Dukureh, a Gambian women's right activist, dons an elaborate costume on the London set of the shoot

Long time: This is the 45th addition of the Pirelli calendar, which debuted in 1963 

Backstage: Some of the stars are pictured fitted for their elaborate costumes on the set of the shoot

Weird and wonderful: The wardrobe for the shoot was filled with boots, ballgowns, and accessories for the cast

Twisted fairytale: The elaborate set was filled with elements from Alice In Wonderland

Picture perfect: This set served as the house that becomes too small for Alice after she snacks on an Eat Me cookie