Two is his magic number. In the love duo that she has shared for a couple of years with Eduardo Constantini (75) the number is repeated strongly. The celebration of their marriage anniversary in Madrid within the framework of Arco, the most important art fair in Spain during the recent Capicua date, showed that this duo, who show off their love in the press (“that one who respects me and comes with good intention”) and the networks, without caring, and even having fun with what they will say, go for more. This is what Elina says, with Anglo-Saxon punctuality, from London, where the subject of the Russian invasion of Ukraine sneaks into the conversation: “This is very sad. It is a regression to another century”, she expresses with a certain anguish that alters the serene and slow tone of her voice. That one that changes from firmness and poise to confess to the formal adoption of her marital surname, to the smiling and youthful one when she laughs at her detractors or dares to dream, to continue with the cabalistic number, with the double offspring. A duplicity of forms in a young woman with an adult mentality, which according to her is possible, because facing difficult things as a girl and having to make her way through sheer effort led her to mature before her time. “I am like a bonsai, a young woman with an old soul”.
News: At the age of 3, she put on her mother’s heels and paraded through the corridors of her house in Las Catitas Mendoza. Since she always dreamed of being a model?
Elina Constantini: It was always my dream to be a model, to go to Buenos Aires and the world. When children have a dream, they must be given importance because they support it, and with a lot of effort they fulfill it.
News: Did someone cheer her up?
Constantini: As a student and as a person, I have always been and am super demanding of myself. My paternal grandfather had bought me a computer when he was 5 years old and watched all the fashion shows in the world on YouTube. I didn’t want to be just any model. I always wanted to be a haute couture model. This year I celebrate twenty years with fashion. My goals were to continue my studies, be a haute couture model and find the love of my life. I am a very old fashioned girl.
News: A cross between Mafalda and Susanita. But having so much conviction, didn’t it lead her to hit some walls?
Constantini: Many. My life was very difficult from a very young age because I had to face several complicated things, such as the separation of my parents. Although I am a family member, I cut the cord at 16 and came to Buenos Aires, which led me to mature very quickly. I had known all the haute couture designers since I was 15, but at first they didn’t want me in the publishing houses until finally, with a lot of effort, I also managed to enter that circuit. I always think that God has given me more than what I have asked for.
News: He seems like a very believing person
Constantini: My family is Christian, but from a very young age I had a great connection with God and with the universe. At the age of 5 I lit candles to God and the Virgin at the bottom of the garden of my house. I did my own ritual, prayed, asked for the health of my parents, for peace, for my dreams and lit candles. Also, things happened to me beyond logic, almost miraculous.
News: Tell me some…
Costantin: I’m embarrassed that they think I’m crazy, but it’s true. One day I threw myself into bed tired and turned on the TV in the dark, and on the wall, I saw the face of Jesus reflected. Another time I was praying in San Nicolás de Bari, and suddenly I saw a shadow next to me, that of Jesus, and there was no one around me. Or see angels, not like the ones in the movies, but as flashes. I believe in God because in all the difficult situations of my life I have always had a unique energy that has taken care of me. I am a believer in all religions because they all lead you to God.
News: You told about the crush that happened the day you met at the Malba bar, but did you ever ask Eduardo why he approached you that day?
Constantini: He said he did it because he thought that if he didn’t get closer he would lose me forever. He says it was an immediate connection. We saw each other and we didn’t stop looking at each other. That’s why for me it’s something more darmic than karmic, because they are two soul mates who found each other, regardless of age. When I tell him “Oh, I waited for you for so many years!”, he always answers me with a joke and tells me, “I waited for you longer!”
News: This summer she was seen as the great hostess of Punta del Este from her bunker in the Las Garzas development. How was this experience?
Constantini: I was surprised. I hadn’t planned the parade, it just happened on its own. I really like to help so I decided to support each brand. He came out divine because Eduardo helped a lot.
News: Do you have plans to stay connected with fashion?
Costantini: I want to bring back haute couture that was lost in Argentina. Organize the Haute Couture week in solidarity with the five best designers in Argentina so that they can have their own parade, with their own atmosphere and location. And then take them to the United States and Spain. I want to combine fashion with solidarity, so that they become infected with that energy. I also have an idea, which is still secret, but I’ll tell you in advance that we are going to bring together the ancestral cultures of each region of our country and show them to society. I want them to look at me and talk about me for generating work, which is so needed today in the country.
News: Do you also help Eduardo with his things and his business?
Constantini: I help him a lot. We listen to each other. For example, in the last acquisition she made of Frida Kahlo’s work, Florencia Malbrán (the person who manages Eduardo’s private collection) and I supported that acquisition when the majority said no. I told him that this work is something unique, that over time it would be invaluable, and that it would be a very important acquisition for him. Two hours before the auction he wanted to unsubscribe and I insisted that he not do it. Later he told me that he had been worth it. We are a very solid couple, who accompany each other, who listen to each other and who also respect their spaces. We are an old-fashioned couple.
News: They got married and the pandemic began. How did they overcome forced coexistence?
Constantini: It was fabulous. The couple was very much in love and the pandemic brought us together and we fell more in love because we had to share the whole day. I put the house on my shoulder because we were left with no one. Eduardo did everything with me. I cooked, and he helped me in the kitchen. We maintained the garden, we made flower arrangements. We dressed and set the table as if we were going to eat out or to a party.
News: They are a couple quite exposed to the press and the networks, and there they are quite cruel, how do you cope with criticism?
Constantini: I look crazy, but i love haters. I think about how important I must be for them, if they leave their lives and take that time to follow me and write things about me. Speak badly or well, they are talking about me. And I love it. Ever since I was a little girl, I loved breaking down prejudices. I am sure of myself and the reality of our love. I know what I want and I don’t care what they say.
News: As a finishing touch, it is said that this year there will be a campaign to have twins.
Constantini: I tell Eduardo that if I end up with twins he would die of love because we always say that if we have a child it is the seal of love of our lives. Imagine two!
News: Is pregnancy a pressure?
Constantine Not at all. I love being asked. They are all so anxious, that if I get pregnant, the journalists are going to be in the delivery room broadcasting live!
News: Would you turn to science or adopt?
Constantini: We hope that it is a soul that decides it at that moment. Eduardo is super fertile, he has many children and his brothers too, and I’m super young. But it is something that we give to God, because it is a divine soul or two…
News: What does it look like as a mom?
Costantini: I think I’m going to be a very loving mother because I see how I am with my dogs, but I always say that they will judge me. I will give my children all the best of me. I am going to be a very dedicated mom, but also demanding. I do not want to expose them, I am going to protect them a lot, but we are sure that we are not going to raise them like the Latin culture, which always wants them close, but more with the Anglo-Saxon style, so that at 18 they can fly and make themselves . That they have the culture of work and study so that they are strong beings and can go through life alone.
News: Being told that he is the love of your life, does it overwhelm you?
Constantini: Not at all. You don’t have to keep anything to yourself because you don’t know what’s going to happen. In addition, he also gave me a very big challenge with the subject of the surname.
News: How’s that?
Constantini: Before I met Eduardo, my name was very established in haute couture. But Eduardo asked me to start calling myself Elina Costantini. Although I loved his proposal, I told him that it was difficult for me, because I am well known as Fernández Fantacci, and it seemed to me that if I suddenly changed my stage name, people would not understand anything. But for him, the fact that I bear his surname is what excites him the most, so I thought about it and said to myself: “why not encourage me to change and bear what is really mine, the surname of the love of my life, of my first and last man? It is something very important to strengthen our primary family, so that there are no doubts, and that it is clear that I am the true and authentic wife of Eduardo Costantini.
