There is an old Italian proverb: Una buona mamma vale cento maestre, which translates in English to “A good mother is worth a hundred teachers.” And inside the Milan Metropol this afternoon, there was a pivotal moment during Dolce & Gabbana’s distinctly age-diverse and inclusive Spring 2019 show that embodied this maxim.
As famous Italian singer Luciano Pavarotti’s “La Mia Letizia Infondere” played on the runway, iconic Italian actress Isabella Rossellini lead her daughter, Elettra Wiedemann, and grandson, Ronin, down the runway radiating happiness, elegance, and the kind of confidence you just can’t fake. And it was utterly clear: These qualities have been passed down from generation to generation. Striding down the catwalk side bye side, Rossellini and Wiedemann, holding her 8-month-old baby boy, not only wore their runway looks—a classic shawl-collared, lace-embroidered robe and a Technicolor floral appliqué coat, respectively—with aplomb, but each beamed with a rosy glow, flicks of jet-black eyeliner, and a classic bright red lip. The latter, being a signature for 66-year-old Rossellini, who added a slick of high-shine gloss for the day’s event and has made a cherry-painted pout a signature throughout her life.
From the beginning of Rossellini’s modeling career in the ’80s, regularly posing in front of the lens for legendary photographers such as Richard Avedon and Helmut Newton and appearing on more than a few international Vogue covers, to serving as a longtime face of Lancôme, she has always been a bold-lipped beacon for aging gracefully. “You know, happiness is a discipline,” she told Vogue earlier this year. “Happiness is to look at what we have and feel grateful. Of course, I am like every woman. When I look at myself in the mirror, I do see my neck—it drives me crazy. It’s not that I’m immune to that voice. But I try not to listen and to say, ‘Hey, but the lipstick still looks pretty good!’ ”
And as a matriarch figure, it’s not just empowering beauty and self-love strategies that Rossellini has bestowed upon her daughter, Wiedemann, a New York–based model and food editor, but also lessons in the realities of motherhood, such as how to look after a young child in a bustling, fast-paced fashion environment. In fact, just minutes before today’s show under Rossellini’s close watch as “Nonna,” Wiedemann was a consummate pro as she paused to nurse Ronin before taking the runway—gold crown and rose-adorned updo, LBD and strappy black heels, et al. Proof, that like their striking beauty, powerful confidence, and on-the-go prowess, it’s simply in the DNA.
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