Franca Sozzani Talks Taking Risks and The Future of Fashion

By Erin Donnelly 03/12/12 at 11:00 AM

Franca Sozzani

Franca Sozzani is rarely one to bite her tongue, so naturally the Vogue Italia editor doesn't hold back in the March issue of Interview Magazine.

Chatting with documentary filmmaker and eco fashion advocate Livia (wife of Colin) Firth, the recent French Legion of Honor recipient tackles subjects of both a professional and personal nature, explaining how her work as a Fashion 4 Development goodwill ambassador in Africa "changed [her] attitude," while revealing that she has no plans to remarry because she's "not tortured by love ... I'm old now."

Of course, she's more than happy to take risks in her work life, steering Vogue Italia towards some of the most controversial fashion spreads in recent history.

"I think I just do what I feel is good to do," says Sozzani, who poses for Peter Lindbergh for the spread.

"Everybody can give me their suggestions, but at the end, the final risk is mine because it’s my name on the magazine. So I only do what I really feel. Everybody tries to influence you, of course: 'Oh, this is the right moment to do this' and 'This is the right photographer to choose,' and 'This is the right model to have ... ' I listen, but I must go my own way.

"When you take risks, it means that you know every month people are there to judge you. Some months are good; some months are bad. When you make a mistake, they call you immediately. And when you do something good, they send flowers to the stylist. So this is a way to say that I want to do it myself. I don’t care if you like it or not. I do the magazine that I think is correct. If you like this issue, I am more than happy. If you don’t like this issue, you will like the next because we do 14 issues a year. So once in a year you will love, no? I’m very independent."

"I like to be risky every day, changing minds every day," she adds. "I’m not reliable at all in my ideas. I can change my ideas three times a day. I change different things, the parts of the content. But I never change the content of who I am. So my challenge every day is to change and to take risks."

That includes her unique approach to taking on the role of Website editor for Vogue.it, a strategy designed to bring her closer to her readers—"otherwise they might think that I am uptight, unhelpful, aggressive, and very vile because I don’t have this human way to talk to them."

Sozzani also tells Firth about her feminist roots, her work to get fare wages and an education for artisans around the world, and how she draws inspiration from "everything."

"It could be a movie," she says.

"It could be a book. It could be a house. It could be one word—I’ll think for hours and hours about one word sometimes. It could be anything ... People who are interesting. It doesn’t matter if they are beautiful or not beautiful—interesting people. Do you know when you go to a very boring dinner and you sit down and you have the chance to talk with somebody and it’s so interesting that you learn so much that night that you go back and say, 'Oh, finally, I met someone who inspired me'? I love that. It could even be parts of a person—the way that they exclaim, their dream."

Finally, Firth quizzes Sozzani about where she sees fashion headed.

"The future of fashion? I think it’s more and more separated—like, on one side would be big distribution, and on the other side there will be high-level prêt-à-porter and couture," she says.

"I mean, the prêt-à-porter is already couture in a way for the prices and the way that it’s made. The big distribution will allow people to dress in a fashionable way, so this could be for everybody."

Fingers crossed!

For more Franca Sozzani, visit InterviewMagazine.com and pick up the March issue, on sale now.