It will be on newsstands from 5 January the new issue of Vogue Italia, which represents the brand's values with a particular focus on the theme "confidence brings confidence".
Protagonist of the cover Veronica Yoko Plebani, Paralympic athlete who, thanks to sport and an incredible strength of will, has taken her destiny back in hand after an illness she defeated years ago.
Elena Favilli interviewed her for Vogue Italia, International bestselling author and journalist committed to identifying and reporting discrimination of all kinds, also known for the book "Bedtime Stories for Rebel Girls". The visionary and dreamlike service that sees her as the protagonist was instead shot by the Korean artist Cho Gi-Seok.
This cover story rewrites the narrative of disability in fashion photography by showcasing a new and inclusive idea of beauty, far from the stereotypes and limitations with which non-conforming bodies are usually represented: Veronica Yoko Plebani, photographed in all its complexity and splendor, she becomes at the same time the protagonist of a fantastic story and the witness of a message of change, of a normalization process that it will bring, finalmente, to an authentic acceptance of diversity.
In the interview Veronica Yoko Plebani talks about herself without filters, since his illness:
“When I was in the hospital I thought I would never be able to forget that pain. And yet I forgot. This is why today I am no longer afraid of anything. Any challenge seems possible to me. That could ever happen?».
When it comes to sports, he declares:
«My favorite sport is fatigue! I really like the change, maybe that's why when I met the triathlon team at the Rio Paralympics in 2016 I immediately understood that this absurd sport would have been suitable for me. Switch from swim to bike on the fly, from cycling to running… at a time when I couldn't even walk a mile! How could I not like a challenge like this?».
Veronica then reveals the moment she realized she was going to become an athlete:
"When I got out of the hospital, to give me a tone of normality, my dad thought about putting me on a plane and taking me with him to the NYC marathon. The day before the race, the United Nations always organizes a solo race 5 km that ends on the samefinish lineof the official marathon and in that race my father with his team pushed me on the wheelchair to the finish line, that I cut while walking. It was just a few steps, but that's where I got that feeling of conquering that got me thinking: I have to do something that gives me this kind of joy.".
When asked about the very young people who follow her, especially on social media, he replies:
“I think they are curious about my story, to my attitude towards my body. We always think that it takes great courage to show yourself when you have a non-compliant body, but for me it's normal. I've always thought of my body as a tool that allowed me to do things and not as a limit. Rather, the most extraordinary things I did after my body underwent this transformation, so I never hated him".
And she talks about this experience that sees her on the cover of Vogue Italia for the first time: “It was a wonderful day, above all because for the first time my body has been photographed in all its complexity and not only for its non-conforming aspects. I have a difficult body to shoot and it was very nice to tell it as something that doesn't just talk about disability but that is part of a much wider context».
Other exclusive interviews complete the number: that to Francesco Risso – Creative Director of Marni, who dressed Veronica Yoko Plebani for the cover of this issue; Paola Egonu, the strongest spiker in Europe; Amina Muaddi, the well-known Jordanian designer; Federico Marchetti, which for the occasion speaks of trust and sustainability by telling of a project undertaken with Prince Charles. And again Andrea Batilla, well-known signature of fashion journalism, wrote an alphabet of fashion values for Vogue Italia. Among the protagonists of the photo shoots Emily Ratajkowski, Naomi Campbell and Adut Akech.
“Stories of trust. All different from each other but deeply interconnected because they are able to coexist in a single story that, like reality, it is not a monochrome painting, but a contradictory and multiform set of different colors. In coexistence is found harmony” comments Francesca Ragazzi, Head of Editorial Content di Vogue Italia.
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