Model Bianca Balti on Strutting the Runway While Pregnant and the Pressures of Social Media

Bianca Balti is the face of Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue (Photo: Victor Demarchelier)

The odds are high that you or someone you know is buying a bottle of Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue fragrance this holiday season — three bottles are sold every minute in the US (over 125,000 between Thanksgiving and Christmas day.) Italian women are so beautiful and stylish, perhaps we’re hoping to adopt their enviable qualities with a quick spritz. At least that’s how I felt after sitting down with Bianca Balti, the 31-year-old Italian model who serves as the face of Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue. Whether posting a makeup-free selfie on Instagram or walking the runway in Milan at six months pregnant, Balti exudes confidence, beauty, and a carefree attitude that’s contagious. Here the Italian beauty discusses her accidental entry into modeling, ignoring the haters on Instagram, and having a critical mom like the rest of us.

Joanna Douglas: How did you get started in modeling?

Bianca Balti: I was 20 when I met my agent, which is very unusual, because typically modeling careers start earlier. It was during university, and I wasn’t really in the mood for studying, and I was looking for a job. I did it for a month to see if it worked out, because I didn’t want to be going to castings and dragging my book, but after a week, I did my first cover. Two months later, I got the contract with Dolce & Gabbana.

Have you noticed a lot of changes in the modeling industry over the years?

Yes. So much. Eleven years ago, when I started, everything was edgy and everyone said I was too standard, commercial beauty. That was a problem. Lately, it’s all about social media and how many followers you have. And the more followers you have, the bigger the contract, you know? But even though it’s still changing, I keep on working, so it makes me feel good.

Italian women have such great style and beauty. What do you think is the difference from American women?

I don’t know, but I know what you mean. I love America — I actually have a house in Orange County — and when I go to the supermarket, I wonder why people don’t have style. In Europe, it doesn’t matter the budget, they always manage to have style. I don’t know what it is.

Bianca Balti walked the Dolce & Gabbana runway at six months pregnant in March. (Photo: Getty)

I saw the photos of you walking the runway pregnant, and it looked so empowering. Did you have any concerns or worries about doing that, or were you just really excited?

No, just my mom told me that I have big hips. My mom is the worst. She always criticizes me all the time. She came up two days after I gave birth and basically told me I need to lose weight. She is a weirdo. But anyway, no, I didn’t. I just felt so beautiful, and when I walked out, everybody clapped. I love the people I work with, and it was such a celebration of such a beautiful moment in women’s lives.

You put up a lot of natural, no-makeup selfies on Instagram. Do you think it’s important to feel beautiful without makeup?

Well, I still use filters. [Laughs] I feel better when I have the makeup on, but I don’t think people expect me to always be made up like this. I don’t have shame to show myself without makeup.

As you mentioned, social media has become a huge part of the modeling industry. Do you like that?

To me, it’s very fun. When I post, I like to follow and see what people’s reactions are. I don’t know if it’s right, wrong, better, or worse, but people show what they want to show. At least you still have the sanctity of what is behind the behind the scenes.

Do you ever take the comments to heart?

Usually, I don’t look, but I have to say, the reason I like Instagram and Facebook so much is because the people who follow me are usually very nice to me. There was some weird comment about my daughter — that she was too skinny or she was wearing high heels, but we were playing. But I know that, and it doesn’t bother me too much.

What do you do if you’re having an off day, but you have to go out in front of the camera?

I just have to do it, you know? After the pregnancy, I was not really in the mood and feeling ready to go back to work. But then I did go back, and it raised my self-esteem because everyone was so nice and supportive, and I felt much more beautiful. And now I get to do this wonderful fragrance shoot with you!

Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue is a go-to holiday gift, with three bottles sold every minute. (Photo: Dolce & Gabbana)

Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue is so popular here. Has it been huge in Italy?

In high school, it was so popular. Everyone smelled like Light Blue — even too much. You would get in the classroom, and everybody would copy each other at that age.

What is it like now being the face of the fragrance?

I like to be part of that iconic image that it evokes. You get the image with the smell. Light Blue is like that. When you smell it, at this point, everybody recognizes it. The image is as powerful as the perfume.

What is your personal philosophy on perfume? Do you wear it all the time, or on special occasion?

It really depends. To me, it is like wearing makeup — to make me feel better. Sometimes I need it or want it all the time, and other times I forget about it because I’m thinking about something else.

How did your beauty routine change when you became a mom? Did you find yourself using less or using different things?

When I was pregnant, I was putting makeup on all the time, which is so unusual for me. But maybe I felt like my body was changing and it was my way to take care of myself. But then, the baby is born, and it’s harder. I breastfeed her in the bed, and then I take a shower. Hopefully she won’t wake up when I take a shower. And then you realize you don’t really need that much time.

Did you learn any beauty tips from your own mother?

No, my mom is very simple, so really I don’t have any beauty tips, but I like simple, too.

Photographer: Victor Demarchelier
Makeup: Christian McCulloch for Dolce&Gabbana Beauty
Fashion: Dolce&Gabbana
Hair: Steven Hoeppner
Styling: Nora Flaherty

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