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[00:00.04]An Italian project on the social media service Instagram

[00:04.80]is aiming to bring attention to women

[00:08.04]who do not look like usual fashion models.

[00:12.88]Carlotta Giancane started L'Imperfetta modeling agency in 2020.

[00:20.40]The name means "imperfect" in the Italian language.

[00:25.40]And the agency aims to redefine ideas about beauty in Italy.

[00:33.44]The agency works with models

[00:35.72]who are unusual for the industry in many ways.

[00:40.68]The models are of all sizes and ages.

[00:45.00]Some of the models have disabilities.

[00:49.04]Others have medical conditions — like alopecia,

[00:53.00]which causes hair loss.

[00:56.04]Still others have scars where they have been injured

[00:59.56]or have skin discolorations.

[01:04.68]Sonia Spartá is one of the models.

[01:08.12]The 28-year-old from Sicily has a condition called

[01:13.16]hyperpigmentation or unusual skin coloring.

[01:19.04]It results in dark spots on her face and body.

[01:24.88]She said that she often hears people talk in public

[01:28.84]about her appearance.

[01:31.80]She has heard some parents tell their children

[01:34.92]that she is from the circus.

[01:38.60]Before, she tried to hide her condition.

[01:42.12]Now, she does not.

[01:44.40]She considers her appearance beautiful.

[01:49.28]She said, "I changed things so that my weakness,

[01:53.68]or how I perceived a weakness,

[01:56.48]became my source of strength -- my distinctiveness."

[02:03.36]This is the first such agency in Italy.

[02:08.40]Giancane, the founder of the company, said:

[02:12.16]"I feel like a revolutionary

[02:14.64]because I realize that around me

[02:18.48]all this did not exist before L'Imperfetta."

[02:24.16]The agency has more than 140 models.

[02:28.76]They are in Italy and around the world.

[02:33.08]However, Giancane said she wants to change things in Italy.

[02:39.60]Her models have appeared in advertising campaigns

[02:43.32]for cosmetic products, fashion retailers, and supermarkets.

[02:50.48]Much of the work is in online advertisements.

[02:54.64]But there have also been calls

[02:57.48]for models in television advertisements.

[03:01.48]Two models have appeared in fashion shows

[03:04.80]in Milan for designer Marco Rambaldi.

[03:10.20]Model Lucia Della Ratta is a university student in Rome.

[03:15.88]She hid her albinism for most of her life.

[03:20.20]She tried to darken the color of her hair and skin with products.

[03:26.64]But during the pandemic lockdown,

[03:29.52]she let her natural hair color grow out

[03:32.80]and began posting photos on Instagram.

[03:37.72]"I felt beautiful for the first time," Della Ratta said recently.

[03:43.32]The change still brings tears to her eyes.

[03:46.60]"I felt it was my essence, as though it is me, as I really am."

[03:55.16]Another model, Desireé D'Angelo,

[03:58.28]has had alopecia since she was 10 years old.

[04:03.28]At school she wore a hat to hide her baldness.

[04:07.32]But classmates would often take it off her head.

[04:11.84]At age 15, a dance teacher suggested

[04:15.76]that she accept her condition and stop hiding it.

[04:20.76]Since then, she has become a successful dancer,

[04:24.80]performer, and model.

[04:28.44]"I like my body. I like my peculiarity.

[04:32.64]In the end, I have accepted it," she said.

[04:37.64]I'm Anna Matteo.

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Words in This Story

fashion – adj. related to the industry of selling new clothing and wearable products

circus – n. a traveling show of people who perform tricks while wearing costumes

perceive – v. to think of something in a certain way

distinctiveness – n. the state of being different because of some quality that is often rare

cosmetic – adj. something that is worn on the face or skin to make a person look better

retailer – n. a person or business that sells products to the public, not to other businesses

albinism – n. a condition in which a person's body lacks color, so their skin and hair are nearly white, and their eyes are red

essence – n. the basic nature of something; the quality that makes something what it is

peculiarity – n. a state of being usual or quite different