Virna Lisi GEORGE LOIS Carl Fischer ESQUIRE magazine March 1965 American Woman

From 1962 to 1972, the art director George Lois was responsible for a series of iconic covers of Esquire magazine, which changed the face of magazine design and profoundly influenced generations of artists.

This is an original issue of Esquire magazine featuring Virna, who was about to debut in How to Murder Your Wife with Jack Lemmon. 

In this iconic cover shot, Virna lathers up to shave in this humorous image pegged to the concept of an article which editor, Harold Hayes, had commissioned -  The Masculinization of the American Woman.

"I wanted to capture a woman being manly and still beautiful. It was a spoof of the whole idea of a glamorous Hollywood" said Lois.  All he needed was a woman willing to do it. Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield declined. Kim Novak's publicist hung up on him. And then Lois found Virna Lisi, an Italian actress who was in town filming Assault on a Queen (with Frank Sinatra) and agreed. So taken with the idea that she wanted it to be shot immediately. That afternoon, they did, before the actress could change her mind.

This iconic image featured in a MOMA exhibition in 2008 - 2009.   

This is one of Lois's most recognised pieces of art, alongside his work with Andy Warhol and Muhammad Ali. 

Esquire paid homage to the original in their May 2008 issue with Jessica Simpson recreating Lisi's famous look for the cover.