Emily Ratajkowski: “How do you change”

It will also be incredible, and perhaps even a little paradoxical, but Emily Ratajkowski In flesh and blood, seen a few centimeters from you, it is even more beautiful than it already looks beautiful on the covers of newspapers, in the advertising campaigns of the most important brands and on the catwalks of the most prestigious brands. All right, her legendary body defined – and not wrongly – perfect; but it is the light of her gaze and her smile that from time to time purses her restless lips that conquer you. In a hypothetical colossal dedicated toOdysseyCirce’s role could only be hers.

We meet her at Florenceon the first day of Pitti Uomo. The supermodel – complete with bralette white and white sneakers – is a guest of Supergafor which he designed a small capsule collection of shoes, simple and very clean looking. The same ones that – of course – she wears.

Florence is very hot, and the trees in the beautiful garden of the palace on the Lungarno chosen for the lunch meeting with the press do what they can to give some shade. Emily is not flustered. The maximum diva whim is a pair of sunglasses, worn just for a few minutes.

Welcome to Italy. Do you know Italian women? What do you think she does?
“They are so beautiful, they are so sure of themselves. Yesterday I arrived here in Italy, I had a bit of jet lag and I went for a walk in this square, with some beautiful buildings. It was so nice to see so many women, of different ages, spending time together. The older ones maybe smoked a cigarette and had a drink, the teenagers had fun in their own way… they were beautiful. I love them, I love Italian culture ».

What do you know about Italy? What do you like … and what not?
“Look, I like everything.”

Be honest.
“For real. I came to Italy for the first time when I was 20, I went to Florence, Rome, the Cinque Terre, Siena… honestly, it was like feeling at home. It’s a strange thing to explain. I spent a lot of time in Mallorca as a young girl, and then in Spain, I always loved the Mediterranean, that kind of culture, the way of life… this lifestyle, in short. But behold, the food there was not as good as it is here in Italy. The only place I haven’t been to yet is Sicily. I can’t wait, I absolutely have to go there ».

This summer?
«Who knows, maybe in August…. I really love Italy, I’ve been coming there every year for a long time ».

It is not the first time that he has worked on a capsule collection for a brand. What is special about this for Superga?
«Honestly, in the meantime it is an Italian brand, and this already means a lot. Then, I have to be honest: sometimes collaborations arise with brands that you have never worn, that are not part of you. It happens. But this is not the case: I have been wearing Superga for years. It was a very natural collaboration, and therefore fun ».

And what did she put into what she learned from her supermodel experience?
«When I first spoke to designers, they said to me:“ So, come on, what do you want to do? How do you want them? Do you want to color them, do you want to add details…? “. I thought about it, and I realized that what I really love about these shoes is that they are so simple and so classic, so clean while all the other sneaker brands always churn out crazy and colorful models. I wanted my collection for Superga to go in the opposite direction. I realized that if you can do something really well, then it’s okay to keep doing it like this. Why change, on the other hand? ».

Superga is synonymous with a minimalist and simple style. Do you consider yourself a simple girl?
“Mhm … in what sense?”

Tell me, in what sense.
“Do you know I don’t think so? (Laughs). I think I’m the opposite of a simple girl, in the way I live and especially in what my brain works. There are certainly some simple pleasures in my life, which give me great happiness but… ».

Which ones for example?
«My son, being with him, watching him, traveling, food, a beautiful bouquet of flowers can drive me crazy with joy… simple things, yes, which I think are the best things in life. Maybe in that sense I’m a simple girl. But if we look at the question differently, no, they are not. Maybe I’m really a complicated person. “

What do you mean?
“There are many different parts to me, many different sides, the things that interest me are many, the way I look at the world is not immediate and easy. I like to analyze things, look at them, deconstruct and then get my own idea ».

Everyone says she is very sexy. And now that she has it here in front of me, I confirm it: she is incredibly charming. Is it possible to be sexy even with a pair of sneakers?
“Of course yes. I’ve been living in New York for a couple of years, I’m used to walking a lot. When I was young I always wore heels, because I am a little shorter than my colleagues, I suffered a little from this insecurity: I arrived at the end of the day with a great pain in my legs and feet, and so tired. At one point I said to myself: “Ok, we have to find a way to put the sneakers on, we have to find a way to make them sexy”. Especially now that I am a mother, who are constantly on the move: work, dinners with friends, appointments … Only with a pair of sneakers you can pass from one thing to another easily and perfectly. There are no more flexible shoes! Being comfortable and being chic are two things that can easily coexist ».

So high heels, today, are no longer essential for a woman to feel powerful?
«I think sneakers today make me feel ready for anything today. They do make me feel powerful ».

Speaking of feet. She got a small tattoo with the words Sly, the diminutive of her son’s name. Okay, the question may be a bit silly, but what has Sylvester Apollo really changed you?
“It’s not a stupid question. I believe the change is happening now, it is still happening. He is introducing me to joy in life in a way that is completely new to me. I used to be happy when I was on vacation, in a perfect situation, and I was relaxed enjoying life. Now I’m busy with a thousand things: I have to take care of him, change his diapers, run to work, get ready in 10 minutes. But he is always there for me, making me discover every day a new kind of joy, and so pure, that I could never have imagined before. I know, it’s hard to explain. Even before I became a mother, people tried to make me understand what it meant to become a parent. Believe me, it is something that you really understand only when you become one ».

I feel enthusiastic about it. Are you already thinking about another motherhood?
“I will definitely want another child, but not right away.”

His body – very often associated with the adjective perfect – is the object of appreciation but also of continuous analysis. He also wrote a book with his own title My Body. Is there anything you haven’t been asked about it yet?
“There is a lot of reticence in talking about what happens to a woman’s body after giving birth. They saw me get back in shape quickly, because I didn’t gain any weight. But for me it was like learning about my body again. While motherhood was a great experience and made me appreciate my body like never before, after giving birth you find yourself looking at it in a different way. You ask yourself: who I am, how does my body change… I’m thinking about it a lot, it makes me reflect. It is almost shocking to see how much and how it can change every day ».

How can you imagine when he will be 70, 80 years old?
«Getting old is… interesting, for all women».

Also for men.
“Yes, it is hard for them to grow old. I saw it with my parents: my mother accepted the change easily, my father couldn’t understand why he could no longer be as athletic as before. But for a person like me, who has built his life and career on the way he looks, the aging process is very interesting but also… liberating, in a way ».

She called herself a feminist. What does it mean today to be truly feminist?
«Here we open a huge conversation. I believe that the original concept of feminism has changed a lot over time. It is a word that I really like, I also like to use it when referring to myself… but today it is not easy to say what a feminist is really and what is not. But let’s say that if feminism were a club, I wouldn’t want to be part of it. “

I know when she was a little girl she was obsessed with Michael Jackson. Do you have a landmark icon today?
“It’s not an easy question. There are many different people today that I really admire, for different reasons, for different aspects of their life. But when you are an adult you no longer have the kind of obsession you might have had as a young girl. Everything changes, even the admiration ».