By 1976, the American Playboy was already a decade past its cultural zenith. But in Italy, the magazine was a revolutionary bomb. Introduced in 1972 by the Editrice Universo, the Italian edition eschewed the sterile, airbrushed perfection of the U.S. version. Instead, it adopted a distinctly Mediterranean melancholy. The photography was grainier, the lighting more dramatic, and the women—often local actresses, veline (showgirls), or students—posed with a vulnerability that American centerfolds lacked.
Due to the controversial nature of the Eva Ionesco photos and the relatively small print run of international editions compared to the U.S. versions, copies are often highly valued on collector sites like AbeBooks or eBay. Playboy Italian Edition October 1976 Classe Del 1965