Robin S. Sharma used to say that the secret to happiness is simple and that it just consists in finding out what you like to do and directing all your energies towards it. A quote from one of those books that Eugenia Silva (Madrid, 1976) devours, one of the most revered Spanish models in the industry who continues to triumph and fight ceaselessly for her dreams. For this Madrilenian with Extremadura roots, maturity has shown her that age is just a number and that hard work is the best travel companion. “I’m getting more contracts than ever. Incredible projects with brands that I have collaborated with for a long time, as is the case with Rabat, and even with others that I already worked with twenty years ago and they have resumed contact with meâ€. And he adds with a laugh: “I don’t know if it’s because we’re more fashionable when we’re older.”
Age acceptance has always been a taboo subject among models and celebrities. The tyrannical canons of beauty seem to tell women that they must be eternally beautiful and young. In this field, Eugenia Silva feels that her generation is moving towards normalization and a healthier life. “On red carpets, I perceive women who are more relaxed and more confident in themselves. You need to learn to take care of yourself, body and mind. I had never gone to the gym, not even during the years I worked for Victoria’s Secret. I didn’t take care of myself at all and now I’ve learned to live in a more healthy and conscious way. This is the secret of my happiness, the continuous search for balance”. Silva, in addition to being a model, graduated in Law, a path he took with uncertainty but which ended up being one of his best decisions. “I never thought that law would be so useful to me. I have not exercised professionally, but it has helped me a lot throughout my life.” She actively collaborates in the Plan International Spain Foundation to help children in vulnerable situations and defends the cause of women every day. “I would be nothing without my women, all of whom are part of my life.” She shares the name Eugenia with her mother and grandmother, two muses who have taught her to face the ravages of life.
The Madrid native remembers her career in the fashion industry as a very quiet journey. Unlike other female colleagues who have been sexually assaulted or harassed by photographers or entrepreneurs in the sector, Silva denies that she has felt violated. “They have never objectified me. I liked what I was doing, I knew where I was and that I was loved for my face and body. No one deceived me.”
His time as a Victoria’s Secret Angel was one of the great milestones of his career. “Now I don’t know if it would be a pivotal moment or the decline, some perceive it as something derogatory, but at that time, yes, it was to be on top of everything. I have wonderful memories of those parades and, despite the high level of competition, great friendshipsâ€. Now those anonymous models I had as companions have been replaced by fashion influencers from Instagram and TikTok. “I think there is room for all of them, including the anonymous ones. I honestly prefer to travel the world six times in a week than to spend all day talking on a mobile phone”, he jokes.
On the personal front, Silva says that getting married and starting a family has never been a priority in his life. “Motherhood changes everything for you. The fears become others and everything is relativized”. His family circle consists of his two children and his partner, Alfonso de Borbón Yordi, with whom there is no wedding planned. “We are so good like this. I’m not superstitious, because I was born on a Tuesday the 13th, but why is it necessary to change what is already good?”. And so it was how Silva built the account of his history, one that bears the name of his great women and as a prologue a song to freedom.
