Anna is wearing Balenciaga
Repossi Jewels and vintage Chanel bijoux

Giovanna Battaglia and I

Anna is wearing YSL

Juergen Teller and I

Anna is wearing Fausto Puglisi

Peroni Nastro Azzurro is celebrating Italian style in a series of talks at the V&A Museum in London with some of Italy’s most influential design and fashion figures. The next guest speaker is Anna Dello Russo, blogger,
editor-at-large for Vogue Japan and all-round fashionista.

A larger-than-life character, Anna Dello Russo is known for her vibrant use of colour, hyper-accessorising and wearing flamboyant catwalk looks as daywear. An internationally recognised fashionista, she was described by the late photographer Helmut Newton as a “fashion maniac” and stylist Gianluca Longo refers to her as “one of Italy’s best fashion exports; the embodiment of Italian style”.

Longo will interview Dello Russo at the V&A Museum, but he first met her 15 years ago. “When I was a fashion assistant, she was my idol,” he says. “We’re both from southern Italy and her style is typically ‘out there’. Like all the Italian greats – Dolce & Gabbana, Moschino and Roberto Cavalli – she is as exuberant
and colourful as you could imagine.”

Dello Russo agrees that her style is a product of a southern Italian upbringing: “In our culture, we approach life like a party – a garden party. We have the benefit of good weather and there is a great tradition of beauty; a fusion of fashion and lifestyle. Every expression of communication is positive and passionate;
food, culture and fashion.

“Where I’m from, eccentricity is alive. People have great taste and love colour. They dress for life. When I was young, there were religious parades in the streets, like carnivals. Everyone dressed in heavy jewellery, bright colours and extravagant fabrics – the powerful expression impressed me. My style has been contaminated by international travel, but Italy is still the biggest influence.”

Dello Russo transformed her passion for fashion into a career when she relocated from the south to Milan, completing a master’s in fashion under designer Gianfranco Ferré. Italian Vogue soon followed and after an editorial stint at L’Uomo Vogue, she took on her current post as editor-at-large and creative consultant for Vogue Japan, still based in Milan. But it was Dello Russo’s frequent appearances on Scott Schulman’s street style blog, The Sartorialist, that catapulted her inimitable
style out of the fashion industry closet.

“Bloggers are the new paparazzi,” she says. “It’s a modern revolution and has opened a window to the fashion industry. When Scott first took my picture, I asked him why and he said ‘there is no sense of fashion in a fashion magazine’. Bloggers know what is really happening on the street and they are more approachable than editors. There is real information available from them – it’s a parallel world to the fashion industry. I follow everything online and now I write my own blog.”

Thanks to the online exposure, Dello Russo has become a visible style icon, a contemporary Anna Piaggi (the Italian fashionistas were last spotted side by side on the front row at Versace’s autumn/winter 2012 menswear show) and is proud to be an ambassador for Italian style.

At her Peroni Collaborazioni talk at the V&A – which she describes as a temple – expect her to extol the virtues of new Italian designers she is championing, such as Milanese designer Fausto Puglisi (who created the baroque-style costumes that Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. wore at Madonna’s Superbowl show) and Caterina Gatta, who creates couture from vintage fabrics. And Dello Russo is unlikely to express any concern about the ability of the Italian fashion industry to weather the global recession: “We have never been rich – Italians are used to working under difficult financial conditions. It makes us more creative.”

Dello Russo also promises that her talk will be like her blog: “I love being in touch with people. I don’t want to teach, I want to give them my energy. British people have an incredible sense of style; they are never predictable. I’m just looking forward
to having a conversation with them.”

The Peroni Collaborazioni talks celebrate the craftsmanship, values and passion so often found in Italian culture by bringing together some of Italy’s most influential style names to share their views and experiences.

Elena Perminova, Shala Monroque and I

Anna is wearing Versace

Ulyana Sergeenko, Elena Perminova,
Karla Otto and I

Riccardo Ruini and I