Nina Daniele is Playboy's new Playmate of the Year for 2018 (Jennifer Stenglein)
Playboy has unveiled Nina Daniele as the new Playmate of the Year.
The men’s lifestyle magazine revealed on Tuesday that the Bronx native is the first since the passing of its founder Hugh Hefner in 2017 at age 91.
Daniele’s 11-page retro-inspired pictorial, shot by fashion photographer Jennifer Stenglein, pays homage to the Femlin, a pinup character created by Hefner and illustrated by Leroy Neiman. The Femlin first appeared in the May 1963 issue.
Daniele previously appeared in Playboy’s March/April 2017 issue as the April Playmate of the Month when nudity was re-introduced. Playboy previously stopped featuring nude pictorials in 2015.
This isn’t the first time Playboy has featured a Bronx native. In December 1958, Joyce Nizzari’s Playmate pictorial led to a “half-century personal and professional relationship with Hef.” In honor of Daniele’s new title, Playboy connected her with Nizzari to discuss their upbringings and the future of the magazine.
“It means so much to me – to not only be seen in my most vulnerable state, but to also be presented, in words, for who I am,” said Danielle in the May/June 2018 issue. “That’s important to Playboy: how my brain works, how my heart works. Through Playboy I was able to talk about how it feels to be a woman in today’s society.”
Daniele’s title isn’t the only big announcement from the magazine. Playboy’s chief creative officer and Hefner’s son Cooper shared the brand will ditch their slogan, Entertainment for Men, and instead highlight their new motto: Entertainment for All.
“Playboy’s content has always been and always will be created with the male point-of-view and our take of masculinity in mind,” he wrote in a release sent to Fox News. “But the truth is the Playboy brand now appeals to a hugely diverse group of fans, including a very substantive way, women who intersect with Playboy at our events, clubs and through our products and fashion collaborations.”
Playmate of the Year Nina Daniele. (Jennifer Stenglein)
Cooper added, “I had a desire to reflect that on the cover of Playboy magazine just as we’ve done on Playboy.com for many months now.”
The May/June 2018 issue will also introduce two Playmates, Shauna Sexton and Cassandra Dawn, as well as an interview with Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards, among others.
Daniele’s cover hits newsstands April 24.
Trending
