Celebs Dish on Why Italians Do It Better
Vogue Italia celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and to mark the occasion, editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani has teamed up with beer magnate Peroni Nastro Azzurro to launch a video exhibition looking back on some of the Italian glossy’s greatest moments. “The Visionary World of Vogue Italia,” which launches today, includes some thirty clips from interviews and photo shoots featuring Milla Jovovich, Duran Duran, Michael Fassbender, Manolo Blahnik, Jessica Chastain, Christian Louboutin and more.
Though Sozzani did not make last night’s New York affair to celebrate the launch (she hosted an all-star anniversary bash during Milan Fashion Week), some of mag’s biggest fans filed into Industria Studios for an exclusive preview, where la dolce vita was inevitably on the brain. “I mean, I did the Gucci show for years, and it was the sexiest,” said model Lindsay Ellingson. “Italians just know how to make a woman feel beautiful inside and out.” Also spotted at the party were W’s Giovanna Battaglia, photographer Ellen von Unwerth, and actor Zachary Quinto, the latter of whom shared that Italy’s Cinque Terre was his favorite hideaway on earth. “There’s a certain bombacity to Italian culture that I really respond to. It’s a celebration of life: fashion, culture, food, music, family. You know I’m half-Italian.”
When asked what the next 50 years could have in store, veteran model Carolyn Murphy, who has appeared in the mag more than a few times, said, “the repeat button has been pressed in fashion a few too many times lately.” But there was one throwback idea she thought could be fun: “I remember Mirabella did this cover many years ago, where they digitally took parts from models—the eyes of one, the nose of another—and they fabricated this girl and put her on the cover. And everyone was like ‘Who is this girl, she is amazing!’ But she doesn’t exit. That’s the best part, that this perfect woman doesn’t exist. That’s something I think could be fun to see happen again.”
Compelling features is what Vogue Italia is all about according to director Baz Luhrmann, who was singing Sozzani’s praises. “Franca has been at the forefront of allowing a fashion magazine to be very aggressive in speaking to culture outside of fashion,” he said. “She goes head-on into controversy. The truth is that Italians bring life, sensuality and the living of life into the expression of things. And how could you not love that?”
Explore “The Viosionary World of Vogue Italia” starting today at visionaryworld.vogue.it.
