Constanza Cavalli Etro is a visionary, a badass, a dreamer, and an institution in the Milan fashion and film community. She is at the helm of the Fashion Film Festival Milano, which held its first competition in 2014. The September Issues had the opportunity to get to know this influential figure, as well as one of her team members, the festival’s artistic director Clara del Nero. 

Born in Buenos Aires, Cavalli Etro moved to Mexico City at 17, where she established CavalliCommunication, a public relations agency. She was one of the founders of Fashion Week Mexico, and she participated in the launch of the Latin American Festival of Cinema, as well as the Argentinian Movie Festival, both in Mexico City. 

“Values are like columns that keep everything straight,” Cavalli Etro told The September Issues. “I have strong values with my personal life, and thanks to these values I could get through so many of the things that have happened to me. When you understand what keeps you alive, you don’t change.”  

“Values are like columns that keep everything straight.”

Married to Kean Etro of the menswear designer family brand Etro, and mother to Sofia, when Cavalli Etro arrived in Milan, she immediately felt that something in the cultural scene was missing. 

“I realized that there was room to make things in a different way. I think that Italians don’t really feel the power they have in their hands. If all the voices out there could meet up… it would be amazing,” she explains. “Fashion had no relationship with the cinema and, more importantly, with the audience. This was the starting point of the whole project: to give people the opportunity to participate, to be involved with an industry that is generally very closed off. I thought fashion had to give something back to the city of Milan.” 

Hence, the Fashion Film Festival was born. This year—its sixth—it will take place November 7-10, instead of during Milan Fashion Week in September. 

“When I created this event, I tried to do it with my latin energy; in a more open way. I wanted to give people the possibility to come into this world, and to watch movies for free. Franca Sozzani [Vogue Italia Editor-in-Chief] once told me: ‘You are the Che Guevara of fashion!’ I took it as a compliment of course!” Cavalli Etro effused. “We started in 2014 with a very strong message and the news about our little project was everywhere—printed magazines, online, TV, news.  Everyone was talking about us! It was unexpected and exciting.”

Since the beginning, Constanza has worked with Clara del Nero, the artistic director, and a team primarily of women. 

“We started in a small flat and now we have quite an organized office,” Clara Del Nero said. “Initially people loved the idea [of the FFF Milano] because it was fresh and new, and those interested in this peculiar side of the industry came to see us, and together we built a small community. The first impression you get when you talk about fashion to people involved in the movie industry is always critical, in a bad way. They associate it with a superficial environment. So initially it wasn’t easy to be rid of that stereotype.” 

When thinking back to the movies from the first festival, Del Nero  continued: “They look so old; things are moving so fast and the technology from one year to the other can change completely. When we started, the section dedicated to female directors was seen as a limit,” she pointed out. “Today there is no discrimination, people are more open. I love to see the millions of interpretations of women through these movies. There is no ideal version of the female, as happens very often in fashion. Here there is more experimentation. One of the movies I loved the most is about a blind girl and her relationship with clothes and fashion in general. It is very powerful.” 

“I love to see the millions of interpretations of women through these movies. There is no ideal version of the female…”

Together with festival curator Gloria Maria Cappelletti, they shape the content and evaluate the macro-trends they see whilst watching the movies. “The films guide us to understand what is going on out there, it is never the contrary,” Del Nero explained.

Bringing big names to the competition within the jury, such as Giorgio Armani and the American photographer Cass Bird, Cavalli Etro hopes to give young people the possibility to be seen by big players of the industry.

“When it all started moving forward I deduced that in order to help young designers we needed to bring the big [designers]. So, I called everyone I knew within the industry and then we came out with the main slogan of the festival: ‘the big helps the small’,” Cavalli Etro said. “The presence of Prada, for instance, brought a lot of interest from the outside and young directors could benefit from that.” 

Fashion can be a cultural means to influence new generations. It attracts mass attention all over the world; it is a mirror of social and cultural changes.

“We wanted fashion to be an excuse to talk about different topics. We talked about diversity before it was associated with the trend—and it was inevitable. We dealt with documentaries and movies from all over the world. Films about the transgender communities in India, Mexico, Nigeria. Inclusivity is a word which has been in our vocabulary from the very beginning of the festival and we are very proud of that,” Cavalli Etro explained.

“…Inclusivity is a word which has been in our vocabulary from the very beginning of the festival and we are very proud of that.”

Starting in 2015, a special section of the festival has been dedicated to women in cinema, supporting young women directors. This year, Mary Rozzi, Editor-in-Chief of The September Issues, will hold a panel within the section #FFFMilanoForWomen about independent women in publishing, with Freeda Media, a new media company that runs mostly on social media. 

The ambassador of #FFFMilanoForWomen this year is Waris Dirie, founder of the Desert Flower Foundation, an organization fighting to end Female Genital Mutilation worldwide. Waris Dirie and her organization are also featured in the fourth issue of The September Issues, “Revisionism,” which is currently on stands.

“Waris Dirie received in 2010 a gold medal from the Italian President for the social work she has done with her project,” Cavalli Etro said. “She is a very strong woman—she was a model and she can explain what the fashion industry can do in order to change.” Dirie will hold a talk with Kiera Chaplin, president of the foundation in Paris.

Constanza Cavalli Etro’s message to today’s youth is to stay strong, and say what you need to say. 

“I arrived here [in Milan] 16 years ago. I am originally from Buenos Aires, a peculiar country, ‘el culo del mundo’ as many say,” she said with a laugh. “So far from Europe and the States. I grew up in a very creative country. My Argentinian spirit is spontaneous, intuitive, [and] mixed with all I discovered in Mexico. I ended up in a very chauvinist environment and when I came to Italy I realized it wasn’t that far from the Mexican culture.” 

Being true to herself was the key to her success. “Being myself is working. I think that now it is the moment to be who you really are… you know, for so many years a certain formula, a certain kind of ethics worked and now it is not anymore. We need to wake up”. 

“Being myself is working. I think that now it is the moment to be who you really are…”

When asked about the future, she said: “Sometimes I feel frustrated. I see all these possibilities around me; there is so much going on but nobody bothers to lift the cover of the pot. Things are boiling, and people with ideas move abroad most of the time where their voices can be heard. What makes us unique is the way we do it, what we transmit to the people and how we [invite] people [to] participate. Here everyone can experience everything about the festival. We are moving others’ energies and I really believe in the power of energy.” 

Constanza Cavalli Etro would love to “see more harmony. When we have that, people are less defensive. I really dream about harmony in every space so everything can grow… to be different is a good thing. [In this industry] I see a lot of creativity, less fear, ambition and courage.” 

“I really dream about harmony in every space so everything can grow… to be different is a good thing.”

Every year at the festival Cavalli Etro has observed common themes, and this year it is documentaries. “All these documentaries talk about different social realities; there are also fashion documentaries about big designers, such as Claude Montana or Pierre Cardin. I think people are not afraid anymore to talk and to show…different situations.”

The first edition of the FFF Milano, in 2014, received 350 movies and that time “we understood that there was a fil rouge, which was diversity. After the first festival I thought we needed a curator of contemporary and visual art within the jury, because there were so many experimental films and no one who could judge them.” 

It was the second year of the festival when Cavalli Etro understood the potential for it to be a cultural event, not just linked to fashion. “Now we are an international hub of fashion and culture. And fashion is an excuse to start new conversations.” 2015 was about discomfort and pain in the movies, and now it is “about the celebration of  inclusivity and diversity. Fashion is going through a very difficult moment of identity… A lot of designers are going crazy with all the collections they have to produce and consequently there is no creativity; it is just business. In the past there was a big creative process, you could take your time to design and create. We need time to process.” 

In 2016 FFF Milano and Vogue Italia collaborated on a project called “Through My Eyes.” Ten up-and-coming directors, chosen by the festival, were commissioned to make a fashion film for Gucci, Pucci, Roberto Cavalli, Armani and six other Italian fashion brands. 

“You know, when I met Franca Sozzani [Vogue Italia Editor-in-Chief] in 2014, she was so enthusiastic about this festival that she wanted to be a partner in it,” Cavalli Etro said. “I declined her proposal because I really wanted it to be open to all: all magazines, all creatives out there. After two years we came up with the idea of introducing a platform about women directors. I immediately called Franca because I knew she could be the best fit. We asked young female directors to express their point of view together with a brand, and we produced incredible movies.” 

FFF Milano is a platform in which it is possible to get an inside look into the biggest players in the fashion world. This year, the closing day of the festival will feature the Italian premiere of the film Peter Lindbergh—Women’s Stories directed by Jean-Michel Vecchiet. 

“In the film you can see how the aesthetics for women has changed through the years, and how he saw this,” Cavalli Etro explains. “Last year we showed a Wim Wenders fashion movie for Jil Sander which won one of the [jury prizes] and Piera de Tassis, a famous cinema critic, while giving the award, said that it was the most Wim Wenders movie she had ever seen.” 

Constanza Cavalli Etro is a volcano of ideas: she is a woman of the future with a keen eye, as well as knowledge and respect for what came before her. 

“My mum was my biggest fan. We built together the [Latin American Festival of Cinema]. One night while talking, we said that everything is very simple… everyone wants to be happy and what makes you feel better is to make others feel better.” 

We asked the festival founder what the Power of the Femme meant to her. 

“It is a long path to feeling that you are powerful. Being a woman means putting together your feminine and masculine sides, and reaching the level of emotional maturity which makes you feel invincible, as if no one could stop you.” 

TSI favorites from FFF Milano winners:

Floria Sigismondi wins Best Fashion Film + Best Editing for “72 hours in André Balazs’ Chateau Marmont with Kenneth Anger”

Enea Colombi with creative direction by Carolina Amoretti  for Fantabody wins Best New Italian Designer for “BODY_CONFY_DANCE – Feel Free and Let Your Body Move”

Jess Kohl for Nowness wins Best Documentary + Best Director for “Nirvana”

TSI Editor-in-chief Mary Rozzi’s #FFFMilanoForWomen panel with Freeda Media about independent women in publishing details:

Friday Nov 8th @ 3pm 
Anteo Palazzo del Cinema
Piazza 25 Aprile, 8