Marta Pozzan at Home in Los Angeles

SET: @COURREGES EARRINGS: @ALEJANDRADECOSS RING: @COSTOLO

Photographer: Steven Simione @stevensimione

Stylist: Brigitte Shokouhi @brigitteshokouhi

Hair: Brooke Tokar @brooke.is.fine

Makeup: Matthew Fishman @matthewfishmanbeauty

MERDE: What brought you to LA from Milan? 

Marta Pozaan : The short answer is Jared Leto *laughs.The long answer is that I was in college in Milan, majoring in philosophy while working as a ghostwriter for Vanity Fair. I was 19 years old getting paid 800 euros a month. I felt like I wasn’t gaining much from being in university, so I started skipping class to work, even though I was getting paid nothing. My job was to report on Fashion Week. I got to interview Thom Browne and I have a distinct memory of this one show that took place at a pool. It was so sterile it was almost hospital-like, and that was the vibe of the show.

The models, the fashion, and conversation drew me in, but I didn’t want to be a writer,
I wanted to try something different. Before this epiphany, I moved to London and enrolled at St. Martin’s Academy to get an MFA in creative writing. 

I made the shift in 2012 when I moved to LA and started acting school. I was booking commercials, and connected with a successful and well connected Director who ended up hiring me as an assistant and sponsored my first work visa. It was a dream come true, I just felt very lucky. Since then it’s all become a whirlwind - I signed to Next Models, got my green card, and built my career. Now it’s 11 years later, but I still feel like I’m just getting started. 

DRESS: @SIEDRES, NECKLACE: @DIOR

M: What was your initial perception of LA?

MP: It smelled like carpets everywhere to me. When you land in America from Europe, you smell the rugs, because we don't have rugs like in homes in Europe. So that was the first thing actually. Once I got over that, I liked it a lot. I love it here. I think there's something about the light in the city. I’m a big fan of David Lynch, and he has a book called Catching the Big Fish, where he says there's something about the light in LA - when you wake up, you feel a live, it makes you want to create. The way he talks about how the sun hits the city is so specific. His lens is through filmmaking, yet I relate on every level. There is something about the energy here that drives creativity.

M: You’re very connected to film, is that in your career trajectory?

MP: I’m helping finance a movie. I found a financier to invest in this project that was written for me, so I'm basically producing. If it does work out, then that's my next chapter and I'm so excited. 

M: You’ve created quite a brand for yourself as an ‘influencer’ - what do you think is the key to maintaining anonymity when your career is tied to an online presence? 

MP: I think the key is not staying very long at a party *laughs* At events I go, make my rounds and then disappear like a f*cking fly. My friend recently sent me an article on how people save 48 hours a year by ‘Irish Exiting.’ There is a certain privilege in being able to disappear and that is something that I find amazing.

M: What advice do you have to survive being in the public eye? 

MP: I keep my circle pretty tight and I’m working on saying no more. It’s a form of self protection that I’m still learning. The key to supporting yourself is supporting others, if you do something good for someone else, they'll remember you in a positive way, which is all that I can do. 

I’d tell others not to listen to what people say about what you're doing while you're doing it. Focus on your own intuition. I know that ‘collaboration’ is a buzzword and super trendy in the industry, but for me, it’s important to be an individualist. Not in a selfish way, but I believe that before you work with others, you should know who you are on your own, as a human and as a brand.

SET @BLUMARINE SHOES @GIABORGHINI via @INFINITYCRE8IVE

EARRINGS: @PANCONESI, RING: @COSTOLO

M: Modeling is a big part of your career, how has it affected your self esteem?

MP: I've always believed there's so much room in this world for everyone, so I try not to fall into the habit of thinking that other people are taking jobs from me, or vice versa because that is never really the case. The key is knowing that if you make the space for yourself, there's space for everyone. 

M: What’s one of your fears?

MP: Sometimes I don't do relationships because I don't want people to know me so well. I feel like there's something to not letting people know you in an intimate way, you're saving yourself. 

M: What are things that you can't live without?  

MP: Sugar *while eating a stack pancakes*, my dogs and my phone.

M: What about style elements and your wardrobe? 

MP: Platform shoes— I love all types of crazy heels, blazers, and leather skirts. 

M: Who would you say are your style icons?

MP: Kate Moss, Monica Lucci, Bella Hadid and Rosalia. All icons. 

Marta’s stylist Brigitte Shokouhi enters the conversation to dive deeper into Marta’s personal style and how they work together as a team.

Brigitte Shokouhi: What about style elements and your wardrobe? 

DRESS @samimirovintage NECKLACE: @CHOPOVALOWENA  EAR PIECE: @PANCONESI

MP: Blazers- I love them. I feel like that has become a piece in my closet I am using all the time for myself. And of course parachute pants, I live in them when I’m working and on set. Lastly, I cannot forget to mention my obsession with sunglasses… I only have about 30 pairs. To me they can make an outfit. 

M: How did you two meet? 

BS: I went to Milan in March - it was a beautiful trip for fashion inspiration that led me to what initially was an uneventful trip to the Prada store with my mom at the Galleria. My mom and I were casually chatting with the lovely Sales Associate, Vito, who after finding out I lived in Los Angeles, told me about his old friend Marta and how well her and I would mesh together. I decided to reach out to Marta … and the rest was history.

MP: That’s how we met— a true love story in a way. I remember Vito and I talking afterwards and being so in awe of the way in which your mom supports you in your dreams no matter how crazy or different from hers they are, because that is not common where I’m from. 

M: How do you work together to maintain Marta’s personality and aesthetic through Brigitte’s styling expertise?

MP: Brigitte knows that I’m silly and that will never change.

BS: Styling to me is very holistic, it’s based on the vibe of the person, the energy, their body type, and the way clothes drape. I’ve learned very quickly working with Marta, and now when I see something, I know whether she’ll like it or not and whether it would fit her properly. I know how to take little pieces of her personality and compile them into wardrobe pieces and accessories- to create an outfit that encapsulates her. The most important part of putting on any look is about how you carry yourself and exude confidence, to make the look a 10/10 no matter what. If you walk out of the house unsure, it'll show.