Violante Naccarato: Beauty is harmony, and harmony comes from the whole figure, not from one individual part.

This editorial is built on a restrained palette—black tailoring, a white shirt, denim, and one flash of pale blue. What does working within such a controlled wardrobe ask of you as a model that more elaborate styling would not?

The mood board was very minimal, so I had to fill its static style with my personality and modeling skills. I was given a kind of “blank page,” without specific instructions or guidance from which to draw inspiration. Knowing your strongest expressions and how to create shapes with your body is essential because it gives you a starting point.

Milan has a very specific relationship with fashion—precise, disciplined, deeply commercial, and deeply artistic at once. How has building your career in that city shaped your standards for yourself?

Milan is a highly multifaceted and competitive place in which to work as a model, with a strong focus on high fashion. The only way for a professional to stand out is to demonstrate something others may not possess.

For this reason, my standard for myself isn’t simply to be pretty, but to preserve my uniqueness and natural appearance. A model’s face is not an influencer’s face.

Several frames place you against bare walls, iron gates, and weathered stone. How do you use an unremarkable backdrop to your advantage rather than letting it flatten the image?

As with the minimal styling, I used the simplicity of the location as an opportunity to focus the entire editorial on my perspective and figure. This meant that my poses, body, and distinctive features could be prioritized rather than allowing the images to rely solely on the vision of the other professionals involved.

There is a quiet defiance in your expression throughout this story, particularly in the black-and-white portraits. Where does that look come from, and is it something you construct or something you simply allow?

The defiance in my expression probably comes from the way I naturally approach the camera, so it has become part of my modeling personality. Sometimes, my eyes simply seem to say, “Let’s see how much of me you can capture.” It is my personal reaction to the camera and another characteristic that makes me unique.

The story shifts between sharp tailoring and softer, more playful denim looks. Which version of yourself did you find easier to inhabit, and which one surprised you?

I have participated in many shoots, each with a very different style, so I didn’t find it difficult to shift from an elegant mood to a more relaxed one.

However, I personally identify more with black and formal outfits, probably because that is what I enjoy wearing most. I am also more accustomed to moving in those types of clothes, which gives me greater confidence.

That doesn’t mean I never wear jeans. I wear them often because they are versatile and comfortable, especially when I update my Polaroids. Therefore, wearing them during the shoot with Marius created a similar feeling.

Black and white strips away color and leaves only structure and emotion. Do you approach a monochrome frame differently from a color one?

When it comes to black-and-white shoots, I tend to focus on the geometry of my body because the strength of the images depends more on shapes than colors. I also try to emphasize my expressions while keeping them natural and communicative.

Modeling asks for stillness and precision, but also for something alive underneath. How do you keep a pose from becoming empty when a shoot runs long?

When that happens, I maintain a continuous, natural, and subtle movement within the same pose. This keeps it genuine and connected to what I am doing, preventing the image from feeling empty.

Your posture and hands carry a lot of the storytelling in these images. Has your understanding of your own body language changed as you’ve grown more experienced?

Of course, my body language has changed throughout my modeling journey. I used to keep my shoulders more closed, and my poses often felt forced. I frequently lacked confidence in what I was doing.

Now, I understand my best angles and know which poses reveal the strongest version of me—or which ones best embrace the vision of a particular mood board. I have also become more aware of my body language in everyday life and how I communicate my presence and confidence around other people.

The industry moves quickly and often values a look before it values a person. How do you hold on to your own sense of self within that pace?

I protect my sense of identity and self-worth by pursuing interests and sources of fulfillment outside modeling. For example, I attend university and care deeply about developing my knowledge and intellectual abilities. I am building my identity outside the fashion industry as well, which is extremely important for my mental health.

I also value myself by taking care of my nutrition, skin, and physical health as an act of self-love—not only as a way to become a better model.

Working with a photographer is a form of trust. What has to happen between you and the camera before you feel genuinely free on set?

Photographers and the other members of a creative team are professionals, just as I am. Once I know that everyone is behaving professionally and appropriately, I can simply focus on doing my work.

The first few seconds may be necessary to break the ice, but nowadays, I find the rhythm very easily.

Looking at this editorial as a whole, which image feels most like you, and which one feels most like a character you were playing?

As I mentioned, I never play a role when I pose. Instead, I reveal different sides of my modeling personality.

I understand that different jobs require very different moods. E-commerce work tends to be more straightforward, advertisements usually require smiling or demonstrating a broad range of expressions, and editorials ask models to create shapes using their bodies and the colors around them. However, every model has a different way of expressing these things.

In this editorial, I certainly feel most aligned with myself in the more formal black outfits, but I never felt as though I was playing a role.

What kind of work do you want to be doing three years from now, and what would you need to learn or unlearn to get there?

I would like to participate in more brand campaigns. I already do this type of work, but it is what I enjoy most, so I hope to do more and more of it.

I believe I still need to learn how to communicate my identity as a model in the best possible way so that the industry recognizes and values my uniqueness.

As for what I should unlearn, I think I am already doing it: overthinking the small details about yourself that make you feel insecure but that other people may never even notice. The risk is that you produce weaker work because you focused on the wrong things for no reason.

Beauty is harmony, and harmony comes from the whole figure—not from one individual part.

Photographer: Marius Crucerius @marius.cruceriu

Model: Violante Naccarato @violanxxe