Q+A with International Fashion Model and British Poet Greta Bellamacina

Greta Bellamacina has modeled for iconic fashion names, such as Dolce & Gabbana, Tom Ford, and Burberry. She's also played a role in the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie and starred in a short film showcased at the Cannes Film Festival. What is even more impressive, however, is how she manages to work both in front of the camera and behind it. Just recently, she created a poetry-fashion film for Harper's Bazaar. The film is shot in black&white, which gives it a nostalgic feel. I really appreciated the nostalgia that the filter evoked because I thought it successfully played on how the images represent memories of Greta's adventures in San Francisco as well as pay tribute to the city's rich poetical past. Listen and you can hear the howls of the Beat Generation between the hustle and bustle of contemporary society. What I love most about Greta's film is how she successfully mixes fashion and poetry. Her words come to life through the visual motions of one of the world's liveliest and most fashionable cities. Watch her film. You won't be disappointed, I pinky promise with a cherry on top! If her film leaves you craving for more of Greta's poetical reflections, check out her book of poetry, Kaleidoscope. 

I was lucky enough to conduct a short Q+A with Greta via Facebook, so scroll forward to read her thoughts on two of my favorite art forms: fashion and poetry.

1) How did you get into modeling?

By accident. I was working in New York and met an English photographer who took some images for Teen Vogue and it all went from there. 

2) How did you get into poetry?

It has always been my main language of communication.

I’ve always been drawn to its unconstructed design, intimacy and honesty.

3) Is there any particular process you go through to draw inspiration for your poetry? Like a place you go to in order to start writing?

I'm always gathering words, observing, researching other writers and filmmakers. I write every day. It is usually the first thing and the last thing I do.

4) Describe your own personal style and why you wear the clothes you wear.

I am quite a practical dresser, often found in a long over coat, sheltering from all the flying missiles of life. I'm always drawn to a pair of cowboy boots and white shirt. Ready to run, survive and adapt.

5) Who are some of your biggest poetry inspirations?

A few continuing favorites which always make it onto my desk include, Sri Aurobindo, E.E Cummings, Lord Byron, Seamus Heaney, Amiri Bar-aka, Pablo Neruda, and of course Syliva Plath.

In terms of contemporary poets the magnifique Emily Berry, Sharon Olds, Sam Riviere, Leonard Cohen, Anno Birkin and my dear friends Pali Cornelsen.

6) Mixing fashion and poetry together is a very novel and interesting concept. How did you think of this idea and how do you mix fashion and poetry together?

Hmm, It is nothing new that contemporary society is governed by communication through having a digital discourse as well as a visual public profile. But like Twitter, Poetry, storytelling and fashion seems to be a continuation of this; it comes from an ever-evolving platform of language, style, culture, politics and social adaption. Poetry like fashion can be disguised and dressed in many forms; it has the power of intimate control, and is able to give a voice to the visual realms of fashion make-believe.

This new fashion syntax, not only creates a plot that entices the consumer, but also encodes a deeper thought behind luxury fashion brands glossy and at times pointless messages.

7) Since you mix fashion and poetry together, do you see the fashion world and the poetry world as one or two separate worlds?

Generally I see them as separate, but I think it also depends on the purpose in which you write for, and what you want to say to the audience. I think fashion/music/film are all great platforms to promote poetry, by giving them a contemporary outlook.

8) What do you think about online poetry journals? Is poetry more "legitimate" in print, such as in poetry books? Or are poems published in online poetry journals just as good as poems published in printed anthologies?

I think that the internet is making it easier to break-away from the snobbery of the large literary publishers, controlling what is published and what is not. Instead, the internet allows the reader to have more choice, to become educated about new and emerging poets, to explore their own voice, openly and honestly for the soul purpose of connecting to an everyman. I think printed poetry journals are just as legitimate as online journals, if not more powerful, connective and democratic. 

9) And last question, do you have any advice for girls/guys looking to go into the fashion industry and/or become a poetry-writer? 

As long as you have a love for your craft, it will always provide you with the drive and determination that you need. I think it's about being open minded and not rushing your process. 

Check out Greta's website here.

In the beginning we are all
sages of fish for miles
tree's & birds.
But in the middle we are the headache,
the plastic and the bottled devil.
This bedhead, raven-feeling we have created,
edited, related and then become, to finally reject.
In the end we are horror,
Because we still do not know
if a garden step is the same as a step to heaven.

(From Horror by Greta Bellamacina)

xx