I was born in Parma, a city in north-central Italy. Born to an Italian father and a Colombian mother. Her mother fell in love with Italy and she met her father shortly after she broke up with her ex.
I grew up quickly and started studying cooking at a hotel school. During that time, I played soccer and got decent grades. After years of making sacrifices for the sport, I slowly came to hate the environment and everything around it, from the deceitfulness of my teammates to the hypocrisy of my manager.
As I grew up, I realized year after year that the reality I was living in was very small for me. I owe a lot to my parents for allowing me to travel to see what’s going on outside of the state, which has heightened my cultural and critical sense of the world.
While studying at university I started offering myself as a model for various modeling agencies both in Italy and abroad. I met a man who was assigned to a special agency. He said he thought I had a chance to get into that world…I trusted him and took the chance…and two weeks later I signed my first modeling contract. ! Sometimes it’s always the last key that opens the door.
I remember many stories from my modeling career, but there is one that always makes me laugh. One day, I got the chance to participate in an exciting casting.
The casting itself took place at the Versace headquarters, a huge building in the center of Milan, which was already breathtaking from the outside because of its enormity and beautiful architecture.
So I auditioned. I got this job and wanted to make a good impression on future opportunities more than anything so I arrived early but unfortunately I noticed at least 30 men doing the same . Quite a few people were waiting their turn in front. my.
During a quick chat with the concierge, we were lucky to find out that models were cast in groups of 10 at a time. I arrived 31st of him, so I actually reached the last group, his 4th.
I waited patiently for my turn along with nine other men. After an hour of waiting, when the call finally came, we were all ready. At least I did. A lovely young girl introduced herself to our group and later showed us the way to the room where we tried on clothes for a photo shoot. He advised us to use the stairs once we had walked up to the floor. . It literally felt like I had stepped into a museum.
Arriving at a certain point, I found myself in front of a staircase. Next to it was a small gray elevator. Like most people, I am quick to ask myself. Then choose the second option and rush into the metal cage. It is followed by all nine, not just one or two. Immediately, I made my way to the elevator mirror and found myself cramped, helpless, and trapped in the hands of nine other people.
Immediately, the tail end of the line pressed the button for the third floor, and for a moment it felt wise that we broke the girl’s proposal.
everything is wrong. Reading next to ‘Maximum occupancy of 3 people’, I started to wonder if that choice wasn’t very smart. However, the cage appears to hold its weight and begins to slowly rise.
In no time, the position was reversed, and it became “minus 3” from the first floor. Well, here’s what you were thinking, they’ve assembled the dumbest group of models to do something like this.
We were one floor down on the 3rd floor and at first all 9 seemed to be enjoying themselves. I hit the emergency button… 5 minutes have passed. nothing happened. Again, amidst laughter and joking, some even said, “I’m going to set my joints on fire.” Another 10 minutes passed. nothing in the universe.
It started to get hot in there, we were cramped as sardines and the elevator seemed to be almost hermetically sealed so little air could get through. 15 minutes passed and still no technician or someone came to open the door. Meanwhile, some men began to get impatient and tried to force the door open in an apparently futile attempt.
Almost half an hour passed and still nothing. By now everyone was nervous about what was going on and no one understood why the people upstairs hadn’t noticed that they hadn’t shown up to the casting room.
Almost 35 minutes later a technician came to open the door and saw the 9 of us coming out of the 3 person elevator, looked at us grimacingly and said things like “you really are an idiot” I commented in phrases.
We climbed the stairs to the third floor where the casting took place and were ridiculed by the entire team. The whole team took the case ‘philosophically’ without making us think too much about the huge shit we did. Well, what can we say? The moral of this story? Not even one. He can’t fit nine people in a three-seat elevator.
Another important thing I’ve realized in my modeling experience is that it’s never too late in life to find the right people and true friends. After working as a model for about two years, one day I was allowed to shoot in Rimini, a seaside resort not far from where I lived. I was waiting for my driver, Andrea (who worked as a photographer but was also responsible for accompanying the models), who was supposed to go to . set) arranged to meet us in front of an old kebab shop next to the train station. Lorenzo and I started talking and there was an immediate sense of kinship, and we started laughing when we saw Andrea arrive late in a rush in his old Citroen.
I already knew that an unforgettable day would come. And, amidst laughter, banter, and much complicity, the day went by on set. It looked like three old friends meeting again after a long time.
At the end of the day Andrea took us back to the station and together, recognizing the energy that existed between us, promised to meet again on another occasion. It wasn’t easy because they all lived in different cities.
Many months passed, but we kept in touch in hopes of seeing each other again. We met Lorenzo in Milan to take photos for his clothing brand. We also met Andrea at the graduation ceremony in Rimini. We weren’t all three of hers, but the enthusiasm that brought us together seemed undiminished. The big day came in September and we finally agreed to get together. After spending the weekend, all three of us realized that we had more than friendship on our hands.
After that day, we became inseparable, sharing thousands of moments, episodes, parties and adventures. We went to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Athens and traveled half of Italy. We were always together. We’ve known each other for a year and a half and now live together in Milan. It’s amazing how you can create such an invaluable bond with one person, let alone two people.
Well, thanks to the world of fashion, I am always grateful for what the world has to offer me. I would like to work in the US and Asia which are huge markets that are always full of opportunities. Here I leave a simple piece of advice that is important for newbies in this industry: I wasted too much time trying to imitate people who had nothing to do with me.
Another piece of advice, which is a little less “mental”, is to start traveling and experiencing new places and new countries instead of just focusing on one market or one country. 100 more doors will be opened. I would also like to thank my parents for always giving me strength and inspiration.
