LOS ANGELES — Adult star and inked model Leigh Raven can be seen on the cover and centerfold of Penthouse’s July 2018 edition.
Penthouse’s July issue featuring Raven will be monumental because it will be the first time any of the big three adult magazines has featured a heavily tattooed centerfold.
Raven also has been given the title Pet of the Month for July, as well.
For Mish Barber-Way, Penthouse magazine’s executive editor, Raven had just the right look for the concept she was going after.
Raven is inked over most of her body, including a giant, flowering tribute to her wife and fellow porn performer Nikki Hearts, underneath her shaved head. She also has a surgically altered forked tongue and nipple piercings.
Barber-Way told XBIZ that she sought a rough-and-tumble look for the July issue and wanted to reimagine one of her favorite spreads that Penthouse had ever run — a pictorial from the mid-1990s that featured porn star Janine Lindemulder who was photographed by iconic adult lensman Earl Miller.
Raven, Barber-Way and a small crew traveled in April to the Southern California desert town of Llano for the shoot that was basically at an old junkyard.
“We were really looking for an artistic, ‘old’ Penthouse-type of look and feel,” Barber-Way said. “Leigh has an amazing look …. You simply can’t draw a face that beautiful.”
Raven told XBIZ that she never expected to shoot for Penthouse, because years ago she was turned away by other magazines like Playboy and Hustler.
“I was shocked that I was asked to come in for a go-see about a year ago,” Raven said. “Mish reached out to me and said she liked my look and would love to have me come in.
“I did my 'go see' and didn’t hear back for a while. I stayed in touch with Mish, and she promised me a shoot that would be perfect for my look/vibe.
“She fucking nailed it,” Raven said. “Super excited to be Penthouse’s first heavily modified pet/cover girl.”
Barber-Way said the July issue will feature about a dozen inside pages devoted to Raven, along with an interview with former Hells Angel George Christie.