INNERview: Deborah Parcesepe

8 Ottobre 2012

Born in Larino (CB) from Italian father and Venezuelan mother, Deborah Parcesepe is one of the most wanted Italian models in the modern scene. She?s worked with several amazing photographers and brands, and she?s recently appeared on Glamour, Elle and Cosmopolitan. She describes herself as shy, and she says to love fashion because of ?the creative twists and the possibilities to be someone else on every occasion?. I had the chance to work with her on two shootings in Florence and get to know a little bit more of this super model who?s making waves in Italy.

Photo: Erica Fava per Le Spose di Caselli Giuseppina

Enrie: How did you start modelling?

Deborah: It was a whim that I?ve always had, I?ve always loved fashion and when I was a child I looked up to the beautiful girls that I saw on the magazines but ? in spite of the chances ? my parents didn?t want me to start too eatly (and now I must admit that I thank them for this). I had almost given it up until I had the chance to shoot with an infamous Florentine photographer, and from then on my name started spreading in the scene. The agencies and everything else came consequentially.

Enrie: How did your parents react when you told them you wanted to be a model?

Deborah: They were happy for me, really. They see how much dedication and consciousness I put in my job, and they?re delighted. Of course they warn me, because they know that the the world I?m stepping into it?s not easy at all, but in the end I think that every work environment has its own pros and cons.

Enrie: So, which are the pros and cons of being a model?

Deborah: A pro is that you can always meet different people, creative people, who are willing to build something beautiful with you – which is probably the thing I like the most about this job, playing and interpreting different roles and moods. The downside is that the people you meet are not always keen on experimenting, or creating, and sometimes they?re not even that passionate as you could wish they were. When that happens, you have to keep calm and do your job, because being a model is like this sometimes.

Enrie: What does your boyfriend thinks about your job?

Deborah: He?s very proud of me. He?s jealous by nature, but he would never deny me something that is part of me. He has decided to love me as a whole.

Enrie: One of your inspiration muses is Coco Rocha. What do you like about her?

Deborah: Coco Rocha is a camera animal! I think she really renders whatever she wears, and there?s passion and determination in everything she does. She?s always at her ease and unpredictable – I think this is what distinguishes her from the others.

Enrie: The headline you?d love to read: ?Deborah Parcesepe testimonial for???

Deborah: Gosh, that?s a tough question! There are so many designers and brands that I love, like CK, or more recently Rodarte ? which is a brand that I think it represents me somehow. But over all, Prada is still the top of the tops to me.

Enrie: By far, which set gave you more satisfaction?

Deborah: I had the chance to work with several amazing photographers and I remember a lot of sets of which the pictures still move me. It?s hard to pick one! Generally speaking, I love the sets that gave me the possibility to express the idea and the mood of the shooting in my own personal way. I?m extremely attached to those.

Enrie: In one of your latest works, you had to model wearing bride gowns. Have you already thought of how your white dress should be?

Deborah: I didn?t! I believe in marriage as a union between two people, and everything?s around it is quite superfluous. Sometimes when I?m joking with my boyfriend ? we?ve been together for 3 years and a half now ? we say that the party will be probably be hosted in a sushi bar, and we?ll be wearing jeans 🙂

Enrie: I know you love music like me. What?s the soundtrack of your life?

Deborah: There are many songs that I feel like mine and that remind me of different moments of my life. I went from Eminem to Nirvana to System of a Down, then I had my ?punk? era,and the the hippie one. I knew each lyrics to The Doors, The Velvet Underground and Bowie by heart! Then it came indie British music, the new wave. It would be difficult for me to choose one song! But I?d probably say that I?m most attached to the 60?s70?s, and some things from the 80?s.

Enrie: The last concert you?ve been to?

Deborah: The Foo Fighters!

Me+Deborah on our set with Elisabetta Porcinai

Enrie: One of your favorite quotations is by Oscar Wilde, and it says ?I like men who have a future and women who have a past”. What do you like of Deborah?s past?

Deborah: The sentence is very generic, and I relate it more to women. I believe that women have a tremendous potential, and there is nothing worse than a superficial woman or a bimbo. The past has a great influence on women. My mother is the person I admire the most in the entire world, because she had to make difficult choices, and she?s made them on her own. She represents the kind of past I want to become.

Enrie: Do you see yourself as an aesthete?

Deborah: I see myself as a person who loves what?s beautiful, so yeah, I would say that I?m a little bit of an aesthete. But many aesthetes loved beauty on its own, while I think that beauty with no purpose doesn?t mean a thing. I think that beauty must be fed with passion and emotions ? in photography more than anything else.

Enrie: Who is Deborah outside the set?

Deborah: A very shy person ? so much that sometimes she might look cold to those who don?t know me. A person that tends to talk very little and listen a lot. I don?t like being the centre of the attention ? I already am on the set ? so when I?m not working I love doing whatever I feel.

Enrie: In a movie about your life, who would you like to interpret your role?

Deborah: I don?t think I have such an exciting life to do a movie about it! Hehe! Anyways I think Elle Fanning would do great ? she?s lovely!

Enrie: Last question: what picture do you have as screensaver of your desktop?

Deborah: A black and white picture portraying a very lonely girl with a jeans jacket and a baseball cap swinging on a seesaw.