Domestic Bliss: Eva Riccobono and Matteo Ceccarini Play House
After dominating the runways for nearly a decade, model Eva Riccobono and her boyfriend, sound designer Matteo Ceccarini, play house in Milan.
Photographs by Oskar Cecere. Directed by Fiona Scarry.
“I remember, when I was just a model, I always asked the photographer, ‘please tell me the story… tell me which kind of woman you want me to be,’” says Italian model Eva Riccobono. “I am not in front of the camera just to wear clothing.”
Discovered by renowned fashion photographer Marco Glaviano, Riccobono began her modeling career at age 19. Since then, she has frequented the pages of Italian Vogue, French Elle and Italian Vanity Fair, appeared in ads for Chanel, Hermès, and Armani, as well as walked the runway for Alexander McQueen, Elie Saab, and Fendi among others.
But after years of representing designers on the catwalk, she announced her retirement from the runway in 2009. “I needed something new and I needed to start focusing on the future,” she says. And while she had already made her first appearance on the silver screen the year before in the Italian film Grande, Grosso e Verdone, she actually owes her first foray into music and video vixen-hood to her past on the runway.
Riccobono met her boyfriend professional DJ, sound designer, and composer Matteo Ceccarini more than eight years ago at the Life Ball in Vienna. In 2009 they recorded their first song and music video together, “Labbra.”
“We were aiming for a guerrilla approach,” Riccobono says of the music video, which they filmed ad-hoc in the streets of Milan with Riccobono caressing unknowing passersby. “It was hilarious to watch the embarrassed reaction of the people I hugged in the streets, Riccobono says. “It was fun to watch Matteo’s embarrassment, but he’s very shy in front of the camera.”
For Riccobono, on the other hand, her ease in the spotlight has led her to two more recent opportunities, both as the face of Swarovski’s new commercial in Italy and as a host for EVA, an Italian show dedicated to science. “I have always loved challenges,” she says of her transition from modeling to hosting a television show.
But after years with all eyes on her, this blonde beauty also desires a life behind the scenes. “My dream is one day to learn how to write a script,” she says. “And maybe even be a mother,” she adds. “Just take care of my family—that’s it, just simple things.” With the strides she’s made already, we wouldn’t be surprised if she managed to do it all—and then some. —Sasha Levine
