SHE WASN’T THE MOST POPULAR AT SCHOOL, BUT NOW MILENA PODDA IS PROUD OF HER STRANGENESS – READ OUT THE INTERVIEW

Interview by Fiammetta Cesana
Photography Matt Colombo
Fashion Valentina Rixo
Model Milena Podda @thelab
Fashion Assistant Giulia Dipa
Make-Up & Hair Grazia Riverditi using Dolce & Gabbana makeup
Make-Up Assistant Alessandro Murgo


“I am not ashamed to have so many feelings and to be a good person. Unfortunately, being cold and cynical is quite fashionable now.”

A witty mind and an unforgettable face. In a world where we risk resembling each other dramatically, unique girls like her don’t drop in every day.

A Beautiful Weirdo_Model Milena Podda_Photo Matt Colombo_fashion editorial_interview

Dress Reamerei earrings Ilenia Corti Vernissage

Milena Podda is 21-years-old model, she was discovered by Gucci last year, and today she is our favorite beautiful weirdo!

Fiammetta Cesana: Creepy. Emo. Alien. Tim Burton’s kid. Miyazaki’s granddaughter. So reads the your Instagram bio. It makes me think that you are one of those lucky girls who managed to make their “strangeness” their strong point. You compare yourself to a comic book character, a mysterious, eerie character… Has it always been so natural for you to show off the anomalies of your beauty, inner and aesthetic?

Milena Podda: My bio is total fruit of what, in my opinion, best represents me. I am a mixture between Tim Burton’s surreal equilibrium and Miyazaki’s fantastic way of experiencing emotions. The films of these two extraordinary artists have accompanied my growth, since I was 4 years old. Getting to the point: no, it has not always been so automatic and simple to show off what I am. As a child, I have always been very lonely and introverted. I had nothing to do with the others and the others weren’t inclined to be friendly. You know how things go unfortunately, if you wear very thick glasses and maybe you also have a lamp attached to the desk (yes, exactly), sitting in front of the blackboard in first row, you are definitely not the most popular in the class. I’m not complaining, this gave me the opportunity to analyze others and myself. Over the years I have stopped worrying about people’s opinion and giving importance to eyes’ shape which, until then, I didn’t like, I stopped weighting those who considered me weird and, magically, people have started to take an interest in me. I made my strangeness and my story into a poem that everyone wants to read.

FC: Being bullied as a child and teenager is a serious and indelible memory. But has this also helped you become who you are?

MP: It certainly made me understand what I didn’t want to become and further analyze human behavior from the inside. People react differently to this kind of thing, I became aware of it and I was able to develop the best part of me and the person I am: open and empathetic, who is not afraid to show feelings and fears, I am not ashamed to have so many feelings and to be a good person. Unfortunately, being cold and cynical is quite fashionable now.

A Beautiful Weirdo_Model Milena Podda_Photo Matt Colombo_fashion editorial_interview

Cardigan and skirt Marco Rambaldi shoes Antolina

FC: Walter Pearce, co-founder of Midland agency, started following you on Instagram and asked you to participate in the Gucci campaign, the first brand to put the spotlight on you last year. What was it like being suddenly catapulted into the fashion industry, a world as attractive as it is fluctuating?

MP: Fashion is a strange world, many try to adapt to the request (obviously, since this is also about selling) and they think that it is enough, and then there are artists, models, designers, and so on, that come out of the imposed lines, shining with their own light and are loved for what they represent and do. Fashion is a closed world but open at the same time, sometimes it makes you feel excluded and other times more like home than your own one. You have to find your balance and this world will give you a lot.

FC: The uniqueness of your face comes from a real disease. It’s hyperopia and glaucoma, right? Would you ever have thought that something that you have experienced throughout your life as a disability could become the reason for your success?

MP: It’s a very serious hyperopia (with +20 correction diopters I can see 3/4 tenths from one eye and 5 from the other, more or less, explained in a simple way), glaucoma and in addition it is all more difficult because my eyeball is extremely short, so there’s no possibility of doing eye operations at least for now, until there are machines capable of reading such a small eye. No, I wasn’t expecting all this to be honest. I love my eyes, but I can’t deny that they still give me problems now: they turn red constantly, one day they are very dry, the next one start watering. I need to be always prepared for any eventuality, I always carry my medicines and various eye drops at work.

A Beautiful Weirdo_Model Milena Podda_Photo Matt Colombo_fashion editorial_interview

Top Margiela skirt and hat Reamerei shoes Rayne socks Stylist’s own

FC: Is there anything that makes you feel scared you about your future as a model?

MP: No, honestly nothing in particular. The fear of failure is in human nature but, apart from strange thoughts at 2 in the morning, I have no big worries, I can give a lot to this world and I’m sure it will pay me back.

FC: Don’t you think that the moment of lockdown we are experiencing could have profound repercussions on the world of fashion and on your own work?

MP: It will certainly have profound repercussions on fashion, on our psyche and beyond. It is a very delicate and unpredictable period. For fashion, which is always projected to the future by designing garments, sales, campaigns, etc. months and months before, it will be very difficult to work as before. Certainly there will be a slowdown in production and sales, also considering the significant economic crisis that will be felt even after the epidemic. The beauty of fashion is that it is art, and art unites people, I am sure that many interesting and inclusive initiatives will be organized to help everyone recover from this dramatic situation. It will not be an easy battle but I am very positive about it.

FC: Reacting with positivity and creativity is certainly the best antidote to fear. How are you dealing with the quarantine days? Can you suggest us any diversion to the isolation?

MP: I believe that there is no correct way to react to fear in this unknown situation, but surely doing something creative helps you feel better. I mainly think about my next projects. I’m setting up various projects as an art director, some of which are feasible during the quarantine and some not. I never have so much time to think, I might as well make the most of it!! Diversion from isolation? Try to discover your secret talent.

FC: Can you tell us more about these future projects as art director?

MP: For months I have been developing the first project conceived entirely by me. I care a lot but it will still take time considering the situation. Now I am collaborating with some 3D artists on feasible projects entirely from home. For the rest I can not reveal anything yet unfortunately!

A Beautiful Weirdo_Model Milena Podda_Photo Matt Colombo_fashion editorial_interview

Dress Reamerei boots Massimo Dogana earrings Ilenia Corti Vernissage

FC: Tell me about your typical day, in quarantine and not…

MP: I found myself experiencing a real daily routine during the quarantine for the first time. I wake up, drink coffee, doing some workout and start working on my projects. In my “normal” life I don’t have a typical day, I always do something different, the jobs change every day… a campaign today and an editorial tomorrow. Different times and different projects change the way I live the day a lot, the only thing that will never change is my poor desire to make me coffee in the morning, literally I get up and look at my boyfriend until he brings it to me, in the bed.

FC: Can you give us some advice on how to train at home after coffee?

MP: Although my mother is a personal trainer I do quite simple exercises, in these weeks I try to do thirty minutes on the cyclette and some free body workouts, even jumping rope is a good way to stay in shape.

FC: Have you and your boyfriend been together for a long time? Do you guys share quarantine?

MP: Exactly for a year! At the beginning of all this situation we were together but, in early March, I left for work and unfortunately I was stuck around the world. Fortunately, I was able to meet my family who lives abroad. The person I miss most, inevitably, is my boyfriend and I hope to see him again before the holidays. It is a difficult and new situation for everyone, but it will not be like this forever, we have to resist a few months and step by step to take back our lives.

FC: You were born and raised near Turin, yet your algid beauty is far from the typical Mediterranean girl… Are both your parents Italian?

MP: Got me. I was born and raised in a village in the province of Turin, but my father is Sardinian and my mother is Polish.

FC: You are 21 years old, very young. Has it always been your dream to be a model?

MP: It was not always my dream, it was a very spontaneous thing from the beginning, I like to be in front of the camera and my face has created a lot of interest. I really like this job, I can give something and make others feel something, and I try to “give” and show my vision in everything I do, from fashion to art. If in the commercial part you are much more technical and set up, in the fashion part you give a little more space to the realization of conceptual and artistic projects.

FC: I read that you studied graphics and photography. What strikes you most about today’s fashion photography compared to that of the early 2000s and the last century? Is there a photographer you dream to work with?

MP: There are photographers of the last century who, in my opinion, were 360-degree artists and fascinated me a lot, but others were still too “technical”. Considering that everything revolves around sales, before there was much more this concept of ​​advertising that needs to follow the ideas of the consumer very precisely, instead today there are photographers who try to overturn this vision by presenting a product in an innovative way, giving the public what you don’t expect. This is what I appreciate about photography in recent years. The photographer I admire most is definitely Tim Walker, the beauty of his photos is not comparable to any other photographer in my opinion. It combines very different elements and makes them stay in perfect balance.

FC: You were born and raised near Turin, yet your algid beauty is far from the typical Mediterranean girl… Are both your parents Italian?

MP: Got me. I was born and raised in a village in the province of Turin, but my father is Sardinian and my mother is Polish.

FC: You are 21 years old, very young. Has it always been your dream to be a model?

MP: It was not always my dream, it was a very spontaneous thing from the beginning, I like to be in front of the camera and my face has created a lot of interest. I really like this job, I can give something and make others feel something, and I try to “give” and show my vision in everything I do, from fashion to art. If in the commercial part you are much more technical and set up, in the fashion part you give a little more space to the realization of conceptual and artistic projects.

FC: I read that you studied graphics and photography. What strikes you most about today’s fashion photography compared to that of the early 2000s and the last century? Is there a photographer you dream to work with?

MP: There are photographers of the last century who, in my opinion, were 360-degree artists and fascinated me a lot, but others were still too “technical”. Considering that everything revolves around sales, before there was much more this concept of ​​advertising that needs to follow the ideas of the consumer very precisely, instead today there are photographers who try to overturn this vision by presenting a product in an innovative way, giving the public what you don’t expect. This is what I appreciate about photography in recent years. The photographer I admire most is definitely Tim Walker, the beauty of his photos is not comparable to any other photographer in my opinion. It combines very different elements and makes them stay in perfect balance.

A Beautiful Weirdo_Model Milena Podda_Photo Matt Colombo_fashion editorial_interview

There is a fil rouge, or rather a fil rose that blends Boss Alive, the new fragrance of Hugo Boss, to women who make it their pennant: a vibrant yet irresistible personality, a happy mix of cheer and fresh sensuality. The whole Alive bouquet is a blastof joie de vivre, from lively fruity notes to vanilla accords, till the sweet aftertaste of woody aromas. The floral heart of the fragrance is dominated by the Indian jasmine sambac, used in ancient times in propitiatory ceremonies and, according to a legend, in love filters for its inebriating essence. Rose is also external packaging enclosing the bottle, a precious crystal “inkwell” not for nothing designed by Amélie Riech, a famous jewelry creator. Boss Alive Eau de Parfum is available in 50, 100 and 200 ml formats.

Dress Marios boots Massimo Dogana rings IVI

Cover: Coat Reamerei