Hello Giulia, tell us about yourself...
Hello Luce, I'm Giulia and I'm 26 years old. I studied literature and now I work as a Social Media Manager for Studio Dispari, an editorial studio in Milan. I tell people about books. I always knew I would work in communication because it's what I love to do. Right from the start, I tried to combine the world of words and images within a sector that feels like my own, that of publishing. I'm a good talker, and that helps me a lot: I never run out of words.
On my Instagram profile, I visually communicate who I am without talking about my work because I prefer to keep it as a place for fun and relaxation. In short, I don't feel like thinking about the perfect caption!
What does beauty mean to you today?
There has never been, and certainly, even more so today, there isn't a true standard of beauty. We can delude ourselves that one exists, but in recent years, this idea has somewhat eroded. For me, beauty lies in diversity. What is different is beautiful. We are all beautiful because we are unique; otherwise, we wouldn't recognize each other. I see beauty wherever I see something in another person that I've never seen before. Something that catches my attention, that allows me to pause and look, to observe more closely.
What inspires you every day?
Doing something I love is my greatest inspiration. Waking up in the morning and going to work happy, proud of what I do. I try to maintain a positive attitude, even if I don't always succeed. I live crazy days, in a rather crazy city like Milan, and sometimes reaching the end of the day, crushed by what's around me, is difficult. More than an inspiration, it's an aspiration: I aspire to arrive home in the evening serene and positive, despite everyday problems, trying to stay afloat without struggling.
Tell me about your aesthetic research.
I have an artistic background, acquired in high school. I dreamed of being an artist in life. Then I scaled back my expectations, but the component that seeks beauty has always been there, and I express it in the photos I take and in the care of my home. For example, I love to work with the light: in the bedroom in the morning, in the kitchen in the afternoon when the light shifts. I've organized the environment I live in so that it makes me feel good and is beautiful for me. My home is my blank canvas. I also love spontaneity. I've never dwelled on how one photo might look next to another in the feed, which is something I do in my work. I try to be true to myself without becoming too paranoid. When I'm on the street, I love photographing old couples in love, billboards, the windows of Milanese buildings, often surprising those who are with me at that moment.
My artistic soul expresses itself through my smartphone: with the shots I take and publish on my IG.
What do inclusivity and inclusive fashion mean to you?
We recently added the adjective "inclusive." Fashion in general, rather than being designed to be inclusive, should be born that way. It is inclusive when everyone can wear it and identify with it. It is inclusive where there isn't a direct message of inclusivity. I notice, as an outsider, a push to "we must be as inclusive as possible at all costs," even forcing the issue a bit. Too much is too much. For example, I find genderless collections very beautiful, but I wish it wasn't just "hey, I'm here, we're making a genderless collection." It should simply be something I do without boasting about having done it.
How would you encourage women to be more confident in their bodies?
It's a very long and hard journey that everyone undertakes with themselves in their own life path. Until a few years ago, I didn't like myself, and there are still parts of me that I don't like. I spent a lot of time in front of the mirror staring at what I perceived as my flaws, and one beautiful day I simply internalized that this is how I am, and I just needed to learn to appreciate myself. From there, it was all downhill. From hiding to showing. Self-acceptance is far too complicated a topic. Getting the message across that beautiful does not correspond to objective is difficult to internalize.
Something has to click inside you that makes you say, "I am beautiful as I am. And I am beautiful as I am because I also have this extra thing." I spent my adolescence worrying about having wide hips and no breasts. Then at 20, I found the positive side: I can go braless on some occasions. And the wide hips are there, but my waist is narrow, so I look good in high-waisted clothes. I realize that self-awareness is not easy to achieve to feel serene and free.
What do you want to convey through your Instagram profile?
I don't have a mission. At the moment, I tell about my life (excluding my private life), what I like, and the beautiful things around me. I use Instagram as a memory album, a time machine, and a visual diary. I wouldn't want the message to come across that my life is perfect. No one's is.
One thing people don't know about you?
I don't drink coffee and I don't eat a lot of things; I'm a pain in the neck from that point of view. And I'm a very big talker, even though I don't do the classic spoken stories.
If you want to get to know Giulia Biava, click here!