Welcome to The Scoop, a weekly email series in which I quiz fashion insiders on the stories of the week.
This week’s guest is Francesca Ragazzi, head of editorial content at Vogue Italia. Shortly after graduating from Sorbonne University in 2010, Francesca landed an internship at the Paris bureau of Vogue Italia. She’s been in vogue ever since, having also worked in New York as fashion market editor for Vogue US, before returning to Milan first as fashion market editor for Vogue Italia and then finally taking on her current head of editorial content role in 2021.
This Tuesday, Vogue World is taking place in Milan, which Francesca says is something the Vogue Italia team has been wanting to make happen ever since its first edition in New York in 2022. I called her up to get the scoop.
Hi Francesca, what’s the scoop?
Vogue World will feature a special ballet performance by Roberto Bolle, who is the principal dancer étoile at La Scala. It was just announced that he will be receiving a star on the Hollywood Hall of Fame, by the way too. The performance at Vogue World is such a special moment for us at Vogue Italia because it really represents Milan’s timeless tradition of elegance and beauty but also how the human body can be turned into art. It will be choreographed by Laccio.
How did this collaboration come together?
Roberto was one of the first people I thought to approach. The challenge of Vogue World is telling a local story in a global way that can speak to everyone, including the girl sitting next to you in the bus. Roberto is an internationally recognized artist but very, very local. He lives in Milan as a very normal citizen, you will see him grabbing a coffee or taking public transport.
Francesca with ballet dancer Roberto Bolle who is going to perform at Vogue World.
Photo: Courtesy of Francesca Ragazzi
Fashion has been quite interested in ballet lately.
We have the most incredible ballet writer at Vogue Italia, Valentina Bonelli. She is obsessed with ballet and knows everything about it. She interviewed Roberto for our cover story, which we are releasing today, photographed by Szilveszter Makó.
When it comes to storytelling, there is a growing need for editors and contributors with a very strong passion for a specific niche that can tell those stories with real empathy. For example, I asked Valentina to include the first time that she ever interviewed Roberto Bolle in her piece. How was he then, and how is he now? We need to be approaching stories from a very personal and human point of view.
