Eugenia Silva: “I haven’t experienced any extreme situations. He knew what he wanted and how far he had to go.”

“Armani was always the most feared.” Eugenia Silva (Madrid, 46 years old) does not refer to the Italian creator named Giorgio, but to the casting that so many models turned up to in the nineties as soon as they landed in Milan. In 1992, the model was staying there for a few months in an apartment she shared with fellow model Karen Elson when she took this test of the power to change lives: “Giorgio had a reputation for doing it when he met you.” liked used to fuck you constantly”. Silva prepared everything conscientiously, except for the unforeseeable: his maternal grandfather died a few days earlier and he had to go back. It was two months before I returned to Milan: “I settled in there when I was 18 and realized that there was no way the second would be the appeal.”

This time he was in time to change into a flesh-colored jumpsuit and hear the teacher murmur, “pretty face” (pretty face). “I learned Italian in record time by memorizing songs by Claudio Baglioni or Francesco de Gregori,” he recalls today with a wink. In the three decades that have passed since then, Silva has for Armani has starred in dozens of parades, fashion campaigns and accessories, and is also an ambassador for her cosmetics line.”He believed in me and never doubted again,” he says.

Today the model poses for ICON in men’s clothing from the Giorgio Armani archives in Milan. Museum wear that encapsulates the Italian’s contribution to fashion: he founded his company in 1975, initially for men only, and it wasn’t long before, with his flowing, unstructured elegance indebted to 1930s cinema, he was the scene revolutionized. Their suits were strong but not rigid, and color schemes ranged from a thousand shades of gray to jewel tones. A blend of aristocratic coldness and Hollywood brilliance: the perfect mix for the Spanish model who grew up in Toledo’s Palacio de la Cava with cinematic photogenicity, despite her parents’ adamant recommendation that she become a lawyer.

It was a friend of his mother’s – currently a photographer for political news – who told him about a competition for the magazine ragazza. “There I met future friends like Esther Cañadas or Laura Ponte,” Silva recalls. He completed his law degree but enjoyed the golden age of top models: “I was a teenager who played to travel the world, meet great people and be pretty happy,” she says.

Alongside Armani, Óscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera and Victoria’s Secret also came: Silva became the third Spaniard, after Cañadas and Helena Barquilla, to wear the wings of the now controversial lingerie company. Between finals and fashion shows, Silva built one of the strongest careers of his generation. He came to swap Paris for New York, then the ultimate measure of success. Silva kept a cool head: “I hadn’t experienced any bad luck or extreme situations, also because I knew what I wanted and how far I wanted to go,” he says. “I’ve had good allies, but I’ve always been my best therapist.” And it seems so good: She’s become a mother and started a fashion production company that allows her to “see this world from the inside.” He laces up his shoes and offers one final thought: “That armani brawl has always helped me to think that you can be whatever your attitude reflects.” A toast to the transformative power of capitalized fashion.

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