There’s something disarming about Martina Guidotti. Maybe it’s her authenticity – that ability to show herself as she is, without filters, without compromises – in a world, the fashion world, that still often tends to box people into rigid standards and predetermined ideals. Model, content creator, and student, Martina represents a new generation of women who use fashion not as a mask, but as a tool for freedom.

From her words and her thoughts, you can sense a kind of awareness that only comes from those who have learned to look within, from those who have known fragility but have turned it into a gentle strength. Fashion, for her, is obsession and language, play and refuge, but also a means of expressing her inner world.

With Martina, we talked about self-perception, the importance of self-worth, and the balance between vulnerability and strength. Because, as Martina says, sometimes the greatest act of rebellion is simply to keep believing in yourself – without a plan B.

What role does fashion play in your life? What does it represent for you?

For me, fashion is my life, in every sense. It’s also kind of an obsession, but in a positive way: it’s my passion, my job, what I study. Even when my mind isn’t there, fashion is always present in my life.

I’m super passionate about fashion too. I find that, just like makeup for me, it’s kind of a shield, right? A way to express how I feel, but also to feel more confident.

What I love about fashion is that it’s a play of characters: every morning, depending on how you feel, you can be a different person. I think, just like you said, it’s a shield, a way of facing life.

Do you ever express yourself through makeup or beauty in general?

Beauty is something I’ve discovered recently. You know, I used to see fashion and beauty as two very different worlds, but the truth is there’s a strong connection between them. I’ve recently discovered that beauty can enhance me, even in its simplicity, which I’m learning to appreciate – with the right products or skills to use them properly – so they can truly add value to an outfit, or to who we are.

Our lifestyle is very hectic, we’re always on the go, maybe resting very little. Do you ever stop and find a habit or a ritual to reconnect with yourself?

Yes, I have my rituals, and I’m also superstitious, so I need my routine, even in this chaos. Before work, before important events or days, I need those moments alone, with my music, my atmosphere, my treatments. I love taking care of my hair, doing masks – for face and hair – and body scrubs.

I get that, it’s a way to connect with yourself, right?

Yes, and to slow down.

“Slow down”

Exactly. And what have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced in the fashion industry?

Its rigid beauty standards. Maybe the mentality is a bit more open today, but the rigidity remains.

The biggest difficulties I’ve encountered are the “buts” that are still everywhere: “You’re beautiful, but…”, “We’d love to have you, but…”, “We don’t have your size, but…”.

We’ve learned to appreciate diverse beauty more, and one thing I love about the beauty world is that it has far fewer “buts.” The beauty world is definitely more inclusive, while in fashion there are still too many problems that become limits.

We curated a photo exhibition called “Have you seen this body?” with Muriel De Gennaro. We photographed non-conforming bodies, artistic nudes, starting from the anger we felt about the steps backward fashion has taken. How would you describe your relationship with your body today?

It’s constantly evolving.

I can’t say it’s peaceful yet, maybe because I chose the wrong job and passion to have a peaceful relationship with my body. My body is always the focus of my job and my life. Still, my relationship with it is improving, because I’m gaining a lot of self-confidence, even just by connecting with other people like me.

What inspires you most when you’re in front of the camera?

It’s paradoxical, but when I’m in front of the camera, it’s as if all my fears, my insecurities disappear. My passion is so big that all the negative emotions I feel in front of the camera vanish — all the limits, all the problems, all the things that in my head often seem wrong just fade away.

I really envy your confidence, it’s amazing — you transform.

I feel that so much when I walk in fashion shows: maybe just a second before, while I’m backstage with the other models, I’m thinking, “She’s prettier, she’s thinner, she walks better, and I’m not enough.” Then, when I’m in front of the camera, I think, “Okay, this is my place, I feel so good here, I feel like myself.” So maybe that’s the magic that keeps me so obsessed and passionate about this world.

“My passion is so big that all the negative emotions I feel in front of the camera vanish….”

When do you feel most vulnerable, and how do you manage to turn that vulnerability into strength?

My biggest vulnerability is my relationship with myself — never feeling enough, never right, always questioning myself too much. I wouldn’t even know how I manage to turn it into something positive, into a strength, but I’d say I probably do it through my unconditional passion for this world, 360 degrees.

And what makes you feel confident, and what makes you feel safe?

Definitely the right outfit, the right makeup, feeling good in the character I’ve chosen for the day. It’s such a powerful tool, especially for those who may be more insecure, more fragile.
As for what makes me feel safe — being surrounded by people who truly wish me well, both in my work life and personal life. I’m a very empathetic person.

And a style tip that represents you, something you do and would also recommend to others?

My keyword is “enhance yourself”, and you can see that from my videos. I’m learning more and more that even if it’s an outfit or makeup look that’s not on trend, if it enhances us, it can become the most stylish thing in the world — even if it’s not trendy. So I think it’s important to learn how to enhance yourself, and that’s the key to a good outfit, good makeup, and consequently, to feeling good about ourselves — confident — and therefore appearing even more beautiful in the eyes of others. Knowing yourself well is definitely essential, as is taking the time to really get to know yourself, because there are so many trends that we’re constantly bombarded with thousands of things.

“Knowing yourself well is definitely essential, as is taking the time to really get to know yourself”

There was a time when I used to wear a lip liner that was way too cool-toned for me — it didn’t suit me at all. I liked it on others, but I never stopped to really see if it looked good on me.

Sometimes we think that if we manage to follow a trend perfectly, then we’re super cool, super fashionable, when in reality, that thing might not enhance us at all — it might even be a flaw, because it doesn’t bring out our beauty.

Anyway, when I think of your job — of people who act or model, like you — you often have to step into different characters, and by doing that, maybe you learn new things about yourself. What’s the last thing you discovered about yourself?

You said something beautiful — “stepping into different characters.” One thing I’ve learned especially in this last period is that maybe this constant desire to be someone else, or like someone else, is actually a limit for me — and that maybe I need to stop wanting to be someone else and simply try to be more myself. Because people appreciate me so much for who I am — I see it through social media, in real life, when I meet people on the street — and so maybe this desire of mine to always be someone else, to do what someone else does, sometimes just ends up taking away from who I really am.

I’m learning to be more myself in everything lately.

That’s beautiful, because that’s where freedom comes from.

Yes, and that’s also one of the reasons why, even though I love the world of cinema and deeply appreciate it as an art form, I don’t think I’m the right person to be part of it — maybe because I still don’t have enough self-confidence to become someone else. And maybe that’s okay.

Are you more of a night owl or an early bird? What’s your favorite time of the day?

I’m an early bird through and through. I need to wake up early, have my breakfast, I like to work out in the morning, take care of myself. I love mornings also because I hate doing things in a rush — I like to arrive and be ready a bit earlier, to do everything calmly.

And what’s the landscape you’d like to always see outside your window?

Is it cliché if I say the New York skyline? I have a very special connection with that city, because I think it contains all my dreams, my ideas, and represents me so much. Then, I’m a bit philosophical, so I also see it as a metaphor: in New York, life moves super fast — it’s a very fast city — and that really represents me, with my thousand goals and dreams. So yes, it’s kind of my happy island, the one I’d like to see outside my window.

I lived in New York for a year and a half, when I was 24. It was amazing. Like you said, there’s an incredible energy there, so many things to do, to see. That energy, though, after a while, was draining me: there’s always so much noise, so many things, so many people. But it’s beautiful.

Yes, I know so many people who moved there and they all say the same thing: it’s a city that either makes you fly or it eats you alive. But I find it extremely stimulating — there, I feel different, I feel understood. I wish everyone could find that place in the world where they feel different because they finally feel like their true selves.

So true. What I love most about New York is the sense of freedom it gives you. There, I feel like I can be whoever I want, even dress in ways I wouldn’t here.

Exactly. And maybe I’m also very conditioned by my body. You know, when I had the opportunity to work in New York, the approach there was completely different, both professionally and socially. There, when you say “I’m a model,” you don’t have to specify, “I’m a curvy model.”

What advice would you give to your past self, and what would you like your future self to tell you?

To my past self, I’d say exactly what we were talking about before — not to try to be someone else, because everything comes in its own time, everything finds its place. And to my future self, I’d like her to tell me: “Live calmly, because everything will fall into place.”

What would you say has been your greatest act of rebellion?

I don’t feel like a rebel at all — if anything, I’m a total lamb. Maybe my greatest act of rebellion is being myself, wanting to have this dream in this society, this obsession that no one can take away from me — to want to work in fashion, to want to live off fashion, in a society that doesn’t really understand this desire.

It’s a delicate form of rebellion, I think — you don’t shout it, but through the way you act and the way you are, you’re rebellious.

Exactly. My rebellion is when someone tells me, “You can’t do it,” and I say, “Okay, then I will.” Being rebellious is not really in my nature.

And what about your greatest act of courage?

The same thing — being so stubborn in a world and a society that aren’t necessarily aligned with the fulfillment of my dream. And above all, I think the thing that really makes the difference — beyond obsession and passion — is having no Plan B.

Invece, qual è l’ultima persona o cosa che ti ha fatto sorridere?

Incontrare banalmente le persone e notare i dettagli che loro apprezzano e vedono di me, anche senza magari che io ne parli. Proprio quando, involontariamente sono me stessa, riesco a trasmettere cose davvero belle, dettagli, e mi fa sempre sorridere che la gente li percepisca e li apprezzi.

È molto bello, anche perché ti esponi in tanti modi diversi con il tuo lavoro, e sapere che a volte ci sono delle persone che notano di te delle cose di cui neanche tu ti accorgi penso sia molto bello, una delle parti forse più belle anche del tuo lavoro, no?

Sì, soprattutto perché uno dei complimenti che ricevo più spesso è che la gente apprezza quanto io sia vera, forse anche perché io non ho mai cercato di essere un personaggio. Inoltre, io non ho mai voluto parlare di inclusività, di body positivity, ma il fatto forse di non parlarne e di essere io così, semplicemente, con questa passione, questo lavoro, amplifica ancora di più il messaggio.

È vero, non sei lì a sventolare una bandiera: il solo tuo essere, chi sei e come sei, è già uno statement, non occorre neanche parlarne.

Forse, all’origine c’è una cosa negativa, perché il fatto che una persona con un fisico “diverso”, non conforme, faccia la modella, voglia fare la modella, ami vestirsi bene, per la gente “normale” è un messaggio fortissimo, mentre per me è normalità.

Certo. Invece, abbiamo parlato di coraggio, di ribellione, eccetera, ma qual è la tua più grande paura?

La mia più grande paura è non farcela, proprio perché, come dicevamo, non ho mai pensato a un piano B. Ho paura di arrivare ad un punto in cui realmente mi viene detto, “Basta, è finita”. My work, what I’m studying, my social media projects — they’re three different paths, of course, but they’re deeply connected. I can’t see myself anywhere else but in the world of fashion, living off my passion. In what form? I don’t know yet — but the plan is one.

I don’t want a Plan B, I want to be brave enough to overcome every obstacle and try to reach my goal.

And what does it mean for you, at this moment, to feel comfortable in your own skin?

It means being able to be myself, because when I don’t feel comfortable, a need arises in me to be someone else, something else, which triggers a mechanism in my mind that affects my behavior, and therefore how I appear in the way I work and in everything — something toxic, which isn’t good.

I imagine it’s a theme interconnected with part of your work, especially on social media. Social media and mental health are often discussed, right?

Yes. I think you have to have your feet firmly on the ground to do the work I do. You know, I’m 35 now, but I wonder if my 16-year-old self would have been strong enough, with social media available, to face that world. A world that is beautiful to me, in which I also work, and I see all the positive sides, but I always wonder, as a younger person, how I would have reacted with all my indecisions and paranoias, because I had — and still have — so many.

You know, the fact that I didn’t seek this work perhaps means I wasn’t even ready. I realize how much I’m becoming aware of myself and growing. There have also been various moments when I told myself, “My words have value,” because I received very important feedback from the people they reached. And so I understood that I have to work on my insecurities and fragilities, which are not always and only a flaw. Often, it’s my community that teaches me things or helps me discover things about myself.

It’s a very beautiful thing, also because, being very empathetic, you can perceive these things, you can retain them. I think that’s exactly how a true community is created.

Exactly, because there’s a reciprocal connection.

And your happy place?

The set, I would say. I’m happy there — everything turns off. My friends always tease me about this, because when I’m on set, my mind shuts off, just like my phone, literally. The set is really my place. For many, it’s an extremely toxic, negative place — paradoxically — but I’m happy there.

It’s also important to be surrounded by the right people, but yes, on set, you enter a completely different mental space.

Yes, and I realize I’m also much more clear-headed. A few days ago, I was on a set for a campaign, and I was happy because I like fashion shows and campaigns — I think they are the most beautiful part of a model’s work — and something happened that, on any other day, I would have taken as a total down, something I would have carried for days. But there, on the set, I had the clarity to tell myself, “Okay, it had to go this way, it went this way, it will be resolved.” I faced the problem in a completely different way. This demonstrates how confident I feel and how I know how to handle things differently on set, because it’s my place, I feel good there.

Beautiful, because finding your own place, I think, is essential — also because it helps you understand what you want to fight for. Your goal becomes clearer. And it’s a place, both physically and mentally, to return to and feel good.

Exactly, and that’s why, as we said before, my biggest fear is someone telling me, “No, you can’t be there anymore.” But surely, life offers better opportunities, and if it takes something away, it’s because it has to give you something else. But I really like the set.

Photos & Video by Johnny Carrano.

Makeup & Hair by Camilla Oldani.

Styling by Sofia Spini.

Assistant Styling Sofia Riva.

Thanks to Chanel Beauty.

Thanks to Chimera Agency.

Jewelry by Alisei Gioielli.