Matilde Rastelli Overcomes Her Biggest Fear For Givenchy

Matilde Rastelli won a place in the Top 15 in her native Italy at the Elite Model Look World Final in 2015. This season, she stars in the campaign for the Givenchy perfume Songe Precieux alongside a real-life flamingo. We caught up with her to ask how she felt about fronting a campaign with a major fashion label, and co-starring with a bird when they just so happen to be your biggest fear.

“I was so happy to shoot my own campaign of a perfume for a brand I'm in love with. I'm so thankful to Givenchy, I can't even describe how much respect and love I have for all of them, especially Riccardo Tisci. He's really special to me. After Elite Model Look, he discovered me and gave me so many opportunities one after another. He's amazing!

“The shoot was such an adventure. I got an email from my agent in Paris asking if I had any problems with birds. The truth is, birds have been my biggest fear since I was a little girl. I couldn’t even walk past birds in the street! But it's work, so I said, "of course I'm not! I'm so excited!"

“After I replied, I literally started screaming. My mother laughed at me so much when she found out, and couple days later she gave me a pink flamingo soft toy to encourage me - and of course, to tease me for my fear!

“When I went to the studio I was so scared, but nobody knew - and there she was - Elisa! A little female flamingo who was 5 years old. When I saw her, I realised that she was much more scared than I was, and in the end, I was totally in love with this little pink thing who was shaking so much.

I was shooting with such a great photographer, Josh Olins and he was impressed by the feeling between me and the bird - can you believe that?! She was just so cute and I had so much fun.”