“AND been as a second father. He sent me the dignity of work. If I have never wasted time behind parties, alcohol and drugs, it was only thanks to its rigorous ethics ». So Fabio Mancini, 38 years old, International Top Model, For fifteen years, face and testimonial of different lines of the Armani group and for years in the top 25 of the sexiest and most listed models in the world, photographed by Oliviero Toscani, Giovanni Gastel, Bruce Weber (“But do not define me iconic, there is only a name in fashion that has the right to be defined in this way and is Mr. Armani” he specifies immediately).
Model “Discovered in via Montenapoleone”
Al Mr. Giorgio Armani, as he calls him throughout the interview, Mancini owes his career in fashion as he also tells in his memoir 108 times I forgive me (Rizzoli).
In 2009 an agent on the street noticed it, in via Montenapoleone in Milan, where he was a salesman. It does not go unnoticed with its meter and 88 in height, green eyes and sculpted physical.
Mancini says: “I’m not a model, I’ve never done it.” “Call me,” the answer. King Giorgio immediately sends him on the catwalk. But the ascent, before then, had been very hard. Indian mom, Apulian dad, ends up living alone with the brother Marco in an apartment in Limbiate, Brianza, when the parents separate. At home there is no money, he arranges the bricklayer and the waiter, also interrupting his university studies, in order to ensure a meal to both of them.
“Giorgio Armani a second father”
A step back. His first parade.
Arrival at the casting and I see all these famous models related to large brands. I want to escape, what do I do there? In the backstage, before the parade, he appears, Mr. Armani, looks at me and calm me down with his blue eyes. Unforgettable.
Fabio Mancini on a Armani catwalk (Photo by Pietro d’Artrano/Getty Images).
He tells in the book that, in difficulties, the stylist has often supported it.
It was like a second father. He sent me the dignity of work. If I have never wasted time behind parties, alcohol and drugs, it was only thanks to its rigorous ethics. And to the discipline. I always say it to the models not to let yourself be dazzled by the sequins and to be careful of the agencies asking for money. There is no career like this. You get lost. Unfortunately, the ego is a big problem also in the world of fashion. If there has not yet been a #Metoo del Fashion, it’s just because nobody should. And there is fear.
Fabio Mancini: “I didn’t talk to my parents for twenty years”
Today its story is a bit its legend. In the book he says that, after a parade in Luxor, he goes into crisis and goes to the Himalaya mountains, between India and Tibet, to look for himself on the advice of a Buddhist monk. But, when they wake her at dawn for meditation, she cares about her beauty routine: “I needed at least 20 minutes to complete it” confesses. It makes a little smile, in fact.
I wrote it on purpose to mark the caesura between Fabio Model and Fabio who was desperately looking for himself. I remember my relatives, visiting Italy from London, who closed in a room to meditate and practice yoga and I did not understand the meaning. Now the whole path has become clear to me. The experiences are never random.
For twenty years she has no longer wanted to talk to her mother and father. Was the success a compensation?
Everything was an answer to suffering and anger. Beauty helped and saved me, but it was not enough. After the trip to India, I realized that the time of forgiveness had arrived. For this reason I titled the book as follows: 108 are the grains of a bad Buddhist (the Rosary, editor’s note). Forgiveness also has the opposite meaning of loss.
Fabio Mancini with Dalai Lama
Fabio Mancini: “Young people forget emotions”
On Instagram he writes “in the solitude of appearances I grew up, but with the awareness of the spirit I am reborn”. He met the Buddhist leader, the XIV Dalai Lama. Did you give you a precious guide?
He invited me to become a “warrior of peace”. It took time to decipher his thoughts, then I perfectly understood my mission: inspire young people with positive values.
Today he directs the Fabio Mancini European School Project, has been appointed by Friends of Europe among the Under 40 leaders. Now it is Ambassador for the mental health of young people for the Ministry of Health.
I have been to over 120 schools. I repeat to the boys that the purpose of life is not to make the model or influencer, but the search for happiness. I always ask if they have ever written a letter to someone. The room remains silent. The boys click on the tablet, but they can’t express emotions.
“The awareness is to be connected with oneself”
Speaking of perdition, at some point it also confesses that sex had become a way to measure its charm. Every evening a new woman.
Over time, it appeared clear to me that I was looking for what I missed, a caress or attention in every body. It was a continuous discovery. But every woman was important. I loved them all.
Fabio Mancini at the Amfar Gala in 2019 (Photo by Marco Piraccini/Marco Piraccini/Mondadori Portfolio Archive via Getty Images).
She is Buddhist. What is awareness for you?
It is the ability to find answers within us, and not outside, in difficult moments, in silence, connected with oneself. I don’t define myself anymore with the outside, in the parade or on the red carpet. Now I know who I am. I don’t escape. Inside there is everything we need to be happy.
How do you imagine in the future?
Married and with many children.