Valeria Raquel Mazza (Rosario, February 17, 1972) has a prominent place in the fashion Olympus of the 90s. The Argentine became the first Latin American model to succeed in the industry at a key moment, when the The term supermodel became popular thanks to girls like Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer and Cindy Crawford.
Her angelic face, her big blue eyes and her blonde hair opened the doors to the sector for her when she was only 14 years old. Roberto Giordano was the one who discovered a very young Valeria who until now had not considered dedicating herself to a world in which she stood out very early.
At the age of 17, she moved to live in Buenos Aires to study Occupational Therapy, studies that she combined with her increasingly intense work as a model. Her measurements of 89-60-90, at that time perfect for the industry, quickly attracted the attention of fashion brands and major newspapers, managing to appear on more than 550 covers around the world.
As she herself explains on Instagram, Gianni Versace was the designer who gave her her first opportunity on international catwalks. Mazza was one of the lucky ones to walk in Milan for the Italian, thus becoming one of his muses. She also worked for Valentino, Dolce
When Valeria made her stellar appearance in the industry, many did not hesitate to baptize her as the Argentine Claudia Schiffer. Her resemblance to the top German, who at that time was on the crest of the wave, was a cause of conflict. A few years ago, Valeria confessed that the German woman even banned her from the parades in which she participated because she felt threatened by her presence. “When I started it wasn’t much fun for her and wherever she could she tried to get me out, to get me off,” she admitted on the American Breakfast program.
“He didn’t do anything to me, but I knew that he was talking to designers so that I wouldn’t be in the show. These things are common currency in the world of fashion,” said the top, who also “blamed” the media for generating this situation. “At first the press created a competition. Claudia was already Claudia when I started. I did certain jobs and they compared me to her; there were moments of tension, but everything passed. Afterwards we learned to live together and I made my career, I didn’t stay in the to take advantage of that situation. On the contrary,” said Valeria, who could not walk for Karl Lagerfeld because she was devoted to Claudia, whom she sponsored and taught her everything about fashion.
In addition to walking for the most important brands and appearing in campaigns and covers, the Argentine has also worked as a professor in fashion and beauty courses. In fact, in 2014 she was the director of the university program for professional models at the University of Palermo (Buenos Aires). Aires). She has also been a columnist for the ClarÃn newspaper and has presented several competitions, including the Sanremo Festival, or awards ceremonies such as the MTV Awards. In addition, she has been a judge for Miss Universe and the Supermodel program.
The model also received offers to debut as an actress at the time. She was even offered to be a Bond girl alongside Pierce Brosnan or to play Nicolas Cage’s girlfriend in one of her films, but she rejected these two projects because she stated that she felt “incapable of making films.”
Over the years, Mazza knew how to perfectly combine her profession with her role as a businesswoman. She has her own sunglasses brand, Valeria Mazza Eyewear, and her perfume line and even dared to launch her own magazine Valeria Mag.
Another curious fact is that she is the only model who can boast of having met three popes in person. In 1998 she met Pope John Paul II; in 2006 she, to Pope Benedict XVI, and she has been able to chat on several occasions with Pope Francis.
At only 18 years old, Valeria met Alejandro Gravier, her great love. It was in 1990 when he, who was 28 years old at the time, saw her parading in Buenos Aires and asked to meet her. A few months later they began a relationship and in 1998 they said “I do” in front of more than 1,200 guests. Giorgio Armani was the designer of her wedding dress.
A year later the couple welcomed their first child Balthazar. In 2002 Titian was born; in 2005, Benicio and, three years later, the long-awaited girl, TaÃna, arrived, who is focused on the world of music. Valeria is very proud of the family she has built with Alejandro and she frequently shares several of her family moments on her Instagram.
