Dieux du Stade
Encyclopedia
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
-based domestic French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
team. In more recent years, players from other rugby union clubs and athletes from other sports have also been included.
The calendars and book have mostly black-and-white nude, erotic photographs of the players. The photographs are known for their homoerotic
Homoeroticism
Homoeroticism refers to the erotic attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female , most especially as it is depicted or manifested in the visual arts and literature. It can also be found in performative forms; from theatre to the theatricality of uniformed movements...
character. Starting with the 2004 edition, a DVD covering the making of the calendar has also been released every year.
Reception
Originally created in support of charity, the popularity of the calendars has been credited for the increased fame of the Stade Français team, as well as rugby in general, in France. The calendars have also received a warm welcome from the gay community around the world due to the homoerotic quality of the images. The British writer Mark SimpsonMark Simpson (journalist)
Mark Simpson is an English journalist, writer, and broadcaster specialising in pop culture, media, and masculinity. He has been described by one critic as "the skinhead Oscar Wilde" Simpson is a frequent commentator on British television shows....
coined the word 'Sporno' to describe the DDS aesthetic.
The calendars are part of a marketing strategy crafted by Max Guazzini
Max Guazzini
Max Guazzini is a French entrepreneur and until June 2011 president of the Stade Français rugby union club of Paris, who compete in the top division of rugby union in France, the Top 14...
, President of the rugby club. A savvy marketer who built the NRJ Radio
NRJ Radio
NRJ French multimedia group based in Paris. Since its foundation in 1981 as a French pop music radio station it has grown and evolved to become the NRJ Group...
group, he has successfully used the calendars to attract a new audience to rugby matches (live and on TV), such as women.
Photographers
The photographers for the yearly editions have been as follows:- 2001: Kris Gautier
- 2002: Kris Gautier
- 2003: Mathias Vriens
- 2004: François RousseauFrançois RousseauFrançois Rousseau is a professional French painter and photographer.He started in painting for almost ten years, before turning to photography in 1995...
- 2005: Carter SmithCarter SmithCarter Smith, is an American film director and fashion photographer.-Life and career:A native of Topsham, Maine, Smith moved to New York City after graduating from Mt. Ararat High School in 1989. He enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Technology but later dropped out to pursue a career in...
- 2006: Fred Goudon
- 2007: Mariano VivancoMariano VivancoMariano Vivanco is an internationally renowned fashion photographer. Vivanco regularly shoots for many internationally recognized magazines, including Vogue Hommes Nippon, Numéro, Numéro Homme, i-D, Dazed & Confused, Hercules, Electric Youth, Details, GQ Italy, GQ Spain, Man About Town,...
- 2008: Steven KleinSteven KleinSteven Klein is an American photographer based in New York.-History:After studying painting at the Rhode Island School of Design, he moved into the field of photography...
- 2009: Peter LindberghPeter LindberghPeter Lindbergh, born Peter Brodbeck, is a German photographer and filmmaker, born on November 23, 1944 in Leszno, Poland. He currently lives in Paris, New York and Arles....
- 2010: Tony Duran
- 2011: François RousseauFrançois RousseauFrançois Rousseau is a professional French painter and photographer.He started in painting for almost ten years, before turning to photography in 1995...
- 2012: François RousseauFrançois RousseauFrançois Rousseau is a professional French painter and photographer.He started in painting for almost ten years, before turning to photography in 1995...
Licensed Products
In 2006, a cosmetics company bought a license from the club to launch a line of skin care products for men. These "Dieux du Stade" products can be found in France only, and were launched in 2007. They carry names linked to rugby, such as the shower gel "Retour au vestiaire" (translation: "Back to the locker-room").In 2005 the hardcover book Dieux du Stade: The French National Rugby Team (published by Universal Publishing) was released, containing photos by François Rousseau taken mostly at the same time of the 2004 calendar shoot. In 2010 photos by Tony Duran taken at the same time as that year's calendar shoot were released in the book Gods of the Stadium (published by teNeues Publishing).
External links
- Official stores:
Books:
Calendars: