The courage to dream

This article is published in number 11 of Vanity Fair on newsstands until March 16, 2021

Dear manager,

this afternoon I went to get a massage. I struggled to find parking because it’s Saturday and everyone is out and about (in the face of the new restrictions in Lombardy!). I walked into the shop and while I sat waiting for the cabin to be sanitized, a cute little girl came to pay for her groin wax. She pulled out a 20 euro bill to pay for her torture and smiled a little embarrassed.

Comfortably seated in my chair, legs crossed, I couldn’t stop myself from speaking to her. And she, like a river, began to tell about herself.
«I would like to do laser hair removal because it hurts. But I work in a pastry shop and I don’t have much time: this morning at four I was already in via Melchiorre Gioia baking trays of brioches (in Milan they say so!) And today is Saturday. I’m doing an apprenticeship and hopefully in June they hire me. We work a lot, people are at home and consoled themselves with sweets; do you think, madam, that I continue to make panettone because they still ask for them! Okay, let’s hope: I’m only 18 years old! ».
Kind, tender, delicate; a love of blonde with wavy hair, gathered in a casual chignon, with the skin of the face (the little that could be glimpsed beyond the mask) smooth, clean, rosy. At her “I’m only 18 years old” I didn’t understand anything anymore, I went haywire and immediately forgave her the “lady”.
This is to say that, for many – shaved and shaved – who go to the Darsena to revel with beer in hand, there are also serious ones, who work for little money, who are building a better future and we have the duty to pass on strength, courage and enthusiasm.
«Honey, enjoy all your precious 18 years!», This lady of 46, almost 47 years old, replied.
Signed, Samuela

It is evening when I receive this email from Samuela Fusilli. In one of the many meetings via Zoom, with the editorial staff we are looking at the images of the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team that the photographer sent us to the other side of the world. “We have the duty to transmit strength, courage and enthusiasm,” writes Samuela. I could not have found better words to describe what you find on the cover and in the following pages: the strength of a crew that believed in their dream despite storms, storms, headwinds, unfavorable forecasts, falls and ascents. We all need that courage and that ability to resist. And while we will cheer for them, during the next one America’s Cup, we will also do a little bit for us. Because it always takes a dream. Always. Even when we think we can’t do it anymore.

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