PERSONAL JOURNEY
Eleonora, your journey from a professional athlete to a fashion blogger is inspiring. Could you share what motivated you to pivot into the world of fashion and how your experiences as a young athlete shaped your perspective on beauty and body image? Thank you for this opportunity. During the years spent in Rome at the Acquacetosa Olympic Sports Center, as a professional athlete of the Italian national youth basketball team, therefore as a very tall white woman 190 cm without shoes and with the foot on the ground, heterosexual and also a fashion lover since when I was a child, this way of being wasn’t accepted. It led to bullying which caused me to have eating disorders which, after many years, thanks to psychotherapy and the help of my family, I overcame. Thanks to this personal experience, I understood that the healthy power of fashion and social media can positively influence high fashion through social media and advertising campaigns with the representation of diversity in every form, giving a perspective of defining «diversity beauty” from the standard currently imposed in high fashion.
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES
You’ve spoken about experiencing bullying due to your height and differences. How did those early challenges influence your mission with WomanPower. it, and what message do you hope to convey to young women facing similar experiences? Daily influence on the fashion blog WomanPower.it shares the new high fashion trends for all women’s bodies and diversity and on the fashion diversity voice project which was created to give voice and space through editorials to the valorization of non-standard women like me.
WOMANPOWER.IT CONCEPT
WomanPower.it is not just a fashion blog; it’s a platform for empowerment. Can you explain the core philosophy behind WomanPower. it and how you integrate the concepts of diversity and inclusivity into your content? The beginning of the WomanPower.it fashion blog is to support women in the professional sport of basketball and all other women’s sports. The roots and basis are the healthy values of women’s team and individual sport. Living 24 hours a day for years with other women from all over the world was the most beautiful experience, and the mentality and vision of the professional female athlete is fundamental to having true healthy female empowerment in society and we would like to introduce it into the fashion industry through WomanPower.it. This would help many to transmit to young women and women to accept and love themselves, and healthily cooperate in real life and therefore also to prevent bullying phenomena in society.


FASHION DIVERSITY VOICE PROJECT
The Fashion Diversity Voice project is a significant aspect of your initiative. Could you elaborate on this project, its objectives, and how you select the voices that contribute to it? Fashion Diversity Voice was born with the aim of giving voice and space to all forms of diversity through fashion through editorial services in fashion magazines. The Powerful Muses are selected to represent their diversity in fashion: petite, skinny, curvy, tall, with various forms of disability, Black, Albino, Asian. We always try to be as inclusive as possible, but it always seems that there is never enough space. This is a great incentive to work harder to create as many opportunities as possible for everyone.
REDEFINING BEAUTY STANDARDS
In an industry often criticized for its narrow definitions of beauty, what changes do you think are necessary to create a more inclusive fashion landscape? How does WomanPower.it contribute to this change? I believe that the change needed to create a more inclusive landscape in high fashion is to include models currently defined as different from the imposed standard in fashion month shows and advertising campaigns. WomanPower.it contributes to this change by creating opportunities with different models through editorials with luxury brands.


COLLABORATION WITH SOCIAL MEDIA
Your partnerships with Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest have garnered attention. How have these collaborations supported your mission, and what advice would you give to aspiring content creators on leveraging social media for positive change? Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest supported me with targeted courses that helped me develop the WomanPower.it project, given visibility through the channels, and financed it. My personal advice for using social media for positive change is: if you have the opportunity, study a lot for what you are really suited to, and if you don’t have the opportunity, have the strength, grit, and determination to create opportunities for yourself with your own strength. This will help you develop projects through your image that can be useful to people. Use your knowledge and education to make the most of all social channels.
MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY
As a UNICEF ambassador working against bullying and cyberbullying, what strategies do you recommend for raising awareness and supporting mental health among young individuals, especially in the context of social media? My recommended strategy to raise awareness and support mental health among young people, especially in the context of social media, is to create inclusive and real fluent models so that more representation and healthy identification is created. This would greatly help the social world transform it into a place that is more accessible to all identities and safe, where on the basis of mutual respect, civil dialogue is exchanged between the various forms of diversity.

FASHION INSPIRATIONS
Who are your biggest inspirations in the fashion industry, and how have they influenced your style and approach as a tall fashion blogger? Fashion is art, and for me, every single thing is inspiration. Valentino, Gucci, Prada, Chloé, Dolce&Gabbana, Armani, Chanel, YSL, Lanvin, Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, Versace, Alexander Vauthier, Alexander McQueen, Magda Butrym, Isabel Marant. I absolutely love their style, and they inspire me a lot as a tall fashion blogger.
FUTURE GOALS
Looking ahead, what are some of your goals for WomanPower. it and the Fashion Diversity Voice project? How do you envision the future of diversity in the fashion world evolving over the next few years? WomanPower.it will continue to spread and support high fashion trends for all forms of diversity and Muse Power in the coming years. I hope to be able to continue with the sponsors to develop Fashion Diversity Voice. I hope in the future to see more and more models defined as different. It would be nice if it became normal without labeling it like that.

ADVICE FOR WOMEN
Finally, what advice do you have for women who may feel marginalized by societal beauty standards? How can they embrace their uniqueness and find confidence in their identities? Every day, you should enhance yourself with fashion even if you don’t feel represented by society. When your day starts, put on makeup even if you’ll be in bed all day. This small gesture will help you love yourself and feel powerful. Be strong, find other daily gestures that suit you, and try to avoid toxic places if you can. Doesn’t your place exist because you never feel represented? Create it! Find people who are similar to you in terms of passion or your way of being; this will help you find confidence in yourself.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers about your journey or your work with WomanPower.it and its impact on the fashion industry? From when we opened it in 2015 to today, we are very happy to have seen changes in the world of high fashion during fashion month. Thanks for having me.
PHOTOGRAPHER: Zuzu Valla @zuzu.valla, PHOTOGRAPHER ASSISTANT, LIGHTING, RETOUCHING: Pip Dusadeevijai @pip.director STYLING ASSISTANT, POSING ASSISTANT: Marian Kwei @marian_kwei. MODELS: Eleonora Bernardi Zizola @eleonorabernardizizola, Marian Kwei @marian_kwei, Joanne Dion @joannedion_ , Rae Bryan @sometimesraeothertimesraye. AGENCY: Zebedee @zebedeetalent, HAIR: Christian Orlando @christianorlando97, Carla Cirujeda @carlacirujeda, Michaela Bodden @michaelabodden_ , MUA: Eliana Decamargo @elianadecamargo, Tamara Darago @tamaradarago_mua Marisa Tipkanok @mareesesa, Moe @moooe_hm. VIDEO: Daniela Duhur @danieladuhur, VIDEO EDITING: Aleesha Rane @aleeshaarane