Amidst the heaving crowds—and in spite of the topsy-turvy weather seemingly bent on targeting Paris Fashion Week—Vogue Italia’s Head of Editorial Content, Francesca Ragazzi, found some time in her overstuffed schedule to speak with Vogue Club members.
From her start in the fashion closet at Vogue Italia’s Paris offices (which included dashes between continents with suitcases full of clothes) to climbing the ladder at American Vogue (befriending none other than Anna Wintour along the way), Francesca—in the 60th year since the founding of Vogue Italia—tells us about her life, her job, and her best advice for anyone seeking a career in fashion or media.
Want to know how to become the next Francesca Ragazzi? Below are three key takeaways from her discussion with Vogue’s Julia Hobbs in Vogue Club’s exclusive, interactive Meet The Editor series—on demand now!
“Work on all platforms, all the time!”
Francesca can’t emphasize enough the importance of being able to work across different projects—and over different mediums: “[Multitasking] is the essential core of what we do today. I was lucky to start at Vogue the year the Vogue Italia website started—which was 15 years ago now—and was part of the movement that changed our ways of communicating and working together.”
“Learn from your mistakes”
Yes, everybody makes mistakes—but Francesca’s advice about dealing with them is invaluable: “Learn from your mistakes, and learn why you made your mistakes—that will bring you very far! Do hard work, and the job will speak for itself.”
“Remember your personal life!”
We’ve all heard a lot about working long hours and striving endlessly toward your goals, but according to Francesca, that doesn’t mean you should fail to look after your personal life: “Don’t neglect the things that bring you joy outside of work—don’t feel guilty if one day you stop at 6pm just to relax, or go home and cook. It’s something my generation needs to set as a new model—particularly as we come from decades upon decades in fashion where it was only about working. Keep being you—you are more than your workplace!”
For this invaluable advice from Francesca, and more from other senior Vogue editors (including the likes of Anna Wintour, Rosie Vogel-Eades, Chloe Malle, and Chioma Nnadi), make sure to check out Vogue Club’s exclusive Meet The Editor series—on demand now!