Giovanna Battaglia: Larger than Life
Tag along with W’s glamorous globe-trotter to the Hotel de Crillon in Paris, a Chanel dinner in New York, and Palm Beach with her boyfriend Vlad.
“I literally stole this fall Rochas coat from the showroom in Paris—luckily, the designer, Marco Zanini, was fine with it! I staged an impromptu photo session in my bathroom at the Hôtel de Crillon. The neckline reminds me a little of a bathrobe—a couture bathrobe. The Crillon should start offering it to guests!”
“Lorenzo Martone has launched a line of brightly colored bicycles—they look like they were dunked in a vat of paint. Here is one parked on the sidewalk outside Bar Pitti in New York. I want to get one so I can ride up and down Madison Avenue for my shopping—it’s a straight shot to Barneys from my apartment.”
“Over a lunch with my agent, I was admiring an enameled Madonna ring by the designer Sue Gragg he had just bought for his girlfriend. The next day, this box arrived at my house. I thought the brooch was the present—it looked so pretty. But in fact, there was a ring inside!”
“My mother gave me this two-faced Fornasetti vase because she said it reminded her of me. I like to dress it up. The hat is vintage, and the necklaces are both Lanvin. I’m sure my housekeeper thinks I’m crazy!”
“This is a Noor Fares hand-painted pendant—I love how monastic it looks, especially against my red Valentino trenchcoat. And by the way, the only papessa in history was named Giovanna, in medieval times.”
“While I was in Palm Beach with my boyfriend, Vlad, we came across this sports car parked on Worth Avenue. It was the exact color of my Bulgari crocodile handbag. If I owned a car like this, I would definitely match my bags to it. I have no shame!”
“At the Chanel Tribeca Film Festival dinner, they gave you these black credit cards that you could use in the vending machine [above] to pick a makeup item or perfume as a party favor. I took the cards from all the guys at my table so I could get extra goodies.”
“Joan Smalls looked like an angel at the Chanel dinner. But she has something dangerous in her, too—like a Bond girl. As I went to take her picture, she picked up a knife!”
