Elisa Sednaoui and Noah Mills are the guest editors of a special issue dedicated to the opening of the new flagship store that Massimo Dutti has just opened in the Galleria Alberto Sordi in Rome. With them we have shared their special relationship with the eternal city, and their most hidden concerns.
“I have lots of curiosity, sympathy and admiration for the city”
Where does the city of Rome send you?
I discovered Rome as a “different side” of the Italy I knew. As an Italian who grew up in the North, a couple of years in Milan but mostly in the countryside of Piedmont, the hills of truffles and Barolo, I visited Rome as a young adult, thanks to cinema. I have lots of curiosity, sympathy and admiration for the city. I always have fun there. For me it’s really just about looking out of your window, or taking a very long walk, the sheer beauty of the large spaces, the architecture, the history of centuries impregnating every wall… The incredible numbers of birds flying over the coliseum in waves, creating fascinating cloud shapes…
What three characteristics do you think distinguish Rome from other large capitals?
It was the capital of the Roman Empire with everything that entails. Italian food is the best and it is Rome.
What role does fashion play in your life today?
Fashion is a constant element in my life, and it has been so since I was a child, as my mom works in fashion. Today I have the pleasure of collaborating with brands I like, sometimes also on specific initiatives linked to the social project I have been working on.
You spend most of your time on humanitarian work. Are there any causes to which you feel especially committed?
The foundation I founded and direct to provide education opportunities to children in Egypt and Italy. We work to create the structure and curriculums of cultural centres that provide after-school programs for children which focus on the arts in the broad sense, so from acting to photography, writing, digital storytelling to cooking and recycling, English and literacy.
In essence these are physical spaces where kids can go as many times as they want each week to be exposed to high quality arts education as a mean of empowerment and building of life skills without leaving their home towns. We believe that the “creative community” is a model which will allow the problem solvers of tomorrow to look at issues from different points of view and find the most relevant solutions to enrich their communities. I also started working at the end of last year with the UN agency for Refugees, which is another cause close to my heart.
Which country of those you have visited caused a greater impression on you?
Visiting the informal settlements of refugees and seeing the conditions in which most refugees currently live in Lebanon, one of the countries bordering on the Syrian conflict. A country that also had to support the cause of Palestine, which suffered its own civil war just a few years back, as you know. One out of every 4 people in Lebanon today is a Syrian refugee.
Have you had any model to follow in your life?
Any woman or man who has the courage to listen to herself/himself, who recognises their very own specific needs and desires, and who promises to realise their dreams. I admire resilience, and the ability to stand up after failure and go forward with an open mind and heart.
How do you imagine your life in 10 years?
I have no idea and I’d rather be surprised….
Do you identify yourself with the image that has been created of you?
I am not always sure exactly what “image” people have of me. And I have started not to care so much anymore. I strive to always be better, more patient, more emphatic, more selfless, a better professional and partner, a better mother and wife, but in the end, I am who I am.Today, and this has certainly to do with the fact that not only I have grown as an individual and professional thanks to the different experiences, but I am also a wife and a mother, I have stopped trying to “please people” or wanting to “be liked” by everyone. I realise that in the past I gave too much importance to what people thought, at the expense of my own overall happiness.
It’s a hard thing to recognise as you’re young, as it goes hand in hand with being able to truly listen to yourself and know what it is that you really want to do. In terms of “public persona”, I think I always felt limited when a lot revolved around how “I looked”. Nor did I like it when journalists described me as this kind of superwoman, someone who is “not relatable”. I don’t think that’s fair.
I certainly am very lucky and have had opportunities, but I have had also my fair share of pain, and I have battled for the things I want, on all levels.
As you must know by now, what you see is what you get with me. I don’t like to waste time with lies (even though, of course, we do unconsciously lie to ourselves sometimes…) and I really believe in Karma. In other words we might say “Act with others the way you’d like them to act with you”.
