With many strong opinions, Franca manages to hold her own and is an epitome of an independent woman. She is considered to be one of the top 5 most influential people in the fashion industry, despite the fact that most people who don't have a particular interest in fashion haven't heard of her, when they may be quite familiar with Queen Anna. 
Last year, I had the pleasure of meeting the Italian icon, as well as Lisa Armstrong and Giles Deacon. Christopher Kane, Philip Treacy and Erdem were also in the room, but as I was too pre-occupied with Franca, I unfortunately didn't get to invade their personal space. I attended a press conference where Lisa interviewed Franca and asked her various questions; “What do you look for in a picture?” Franca’s reply was simply, “An emotion.” She also expressed her views on modern day model’s stating “20 years ago they were women and now, they are teenagers” (Cara Delevingne instantly comes to mind). “They start off being thin, and then they become anorexic. They don’t start off anorexic”. She made it obvious that that she was more in favour of plus size models and when discussing the June '11 issue, she stated that she 'hopes the 3 + size models on the cover of Italian Vogue will make the Industry reconsider its obsession with teenagers’.Hearing her opinions first hand was an incredible experience, and I must say it is a very controversial topic. Should the industry feature more plus sized models? I think that fashion in the form of editorials and catwalks has developed enough that many models don't feel the need to starve themselves, but then again, we never see the whole picture...
Nevertheless, meeting Franca was amazing, and I hope to one day become a successful editor like herself and our beloved 'nuclear Wintour' (hence the title of my blog), to make an impact on the oh-so-critical yet fabulous fashion industry.
Marium x
