When Dolce & Gabbana invite you to Capri to hang with Bianca Balti and David Gandy, the faces of the iconic Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue campaign (you know, the ones with the insanely hot pair cozying up in the ocean in tiny little white swimsuits?), you wait approximately zero seconds before giving an enthusiastic “HELL YES!” This is precisely the situation we found ourselves in last week, chatting with the supermodel and mother of two in her suite at the legendary Grand Quisisana Hotel. After two days of exploring the island, feasting on chocolate Capri cake, and having dinner under canopies of lemon trees (a.k.a our idea of heaven), we got the scoop on how to travel, live, and work out like a Dolce & Gabbana muse.
Her travel must-haves:
“Lip balm, because I get very dried up. Water...I’m so boring, and a blanket. Super boring but very true. I try to keep it as simple as I can. I am lucky enough to stay at the best hotels, and usually they have good products so [I don’t travel with things like shampoo or conditioner]. I try to really bring the bare necessities. I bring a small travel bag for me, and now because my baby’s so small I travel with a lot of baby essentials. Wipes, a lot of wipes.”
How she makes a hotel feel like home:
“As soon as I get into the room I have to put my stuff in the closet. Seriously, I’m so OCD like that. In fact, yesterday, I arrived and then we immediately went to the dinner so when I came back from the dinner at 11pm I was slowly and so quietly putting everything in the closet because I couldn’t wake up with everything still in the bag. That’s my routine. Just put everything as if it was my own house.”
Packing 101:
“[Before I travel], I put all my looks on the bed. I like to be essential even with the clothes I bring. I freak out, for example, if I pack stuff that I end up not wearing. So I put out the outfits, the pants with the t-shirt and then maybe a change of a t-shirt if I get dirty [laughs]. I used to just pack everything, and it was so heavy. The more you travel, the more you just try to keep it super essential.”
What she brought to Capri:
“I have only three dresses because I’m only staying three days. So I have three Dolce & Gabbana dresses, all very summery with one pair of flat sandals. I usually don’t wear heels, I brought some jewel sandals because I love them for summer and then I only brought one bag. It’s really just the essentials.”
The meaning behind her tattoo:
“It’s for my boyfriend, it’s for my daughters—the M is everybody, and my Mom. Everybody I love has a name that starts with an M, except Bruno[my agent] that is a B, but it doesn’t matter I tattoo that in my heart.”
On getting *that* body:
“I just like fitness, I like doing weights mostly. I’m not much into cardio, I’m more into concentrating on my butt and my legs. When I’m on the road I’m not the one who wakes up two hours early just to go and run.”
And getting back in shape post-baby:
“Well I did try to do the colonic but I had to stop it. I did do like one week of a cleanse in a clinic after my first child, but it really didn’t do much for me. The most I did, after my second pregnancy, was training twice a day and really dieting. But in the sense of smaller portions and healthy food. I did it for four months, and it was really tough. I don’t want to have to do that again, so with my next baby I’m going to control myself—control the eating while I’m pregnant.”
And how to fake *that* body in photos:
“I learned this from other models; you suck in your belly and bend a little bit so you can see your abs. Hold your breath and push your hips out to the front so you see your abs. But then I feel always stupid when I try to do it on shoots, so I end up not doing it! I wish you could hold your breath in your butt. There is no trick for your butt! [laughs] It’s just there, and I am Italian, you know, so I always have a butt. It never disappears.”
On the most exciting moment of her career:
“The most exciting moment was when I heard from my agent that Dolce & Gabbana put me on an exclusive contract for their fashion show. I was like, three months into my career! Right after, I got an exclusivity for the campaign. That was eleven years ago, so it goes a long way back. That was the most exciting moment. Then, I remember when I started to do looks for the show and I saw Domenico bending on his knees doing things, and I was so impressed. Just to see somebody like Domenico Dolce doing it himself, I was so impressed.”