Italian actor Monica Bellucci, who until recently hadn’t been to Italy since 2014, covers the April 2021 French issue of Madame Figaro. Barbara Baumel styles Bellucci, who has become “the most indispensable Italian actress in French cinema”, writes Marion Dupuis. / Hair by John Nollet; makeup by Letizia Carnevale

Sabine Villiard [IG] photographs the actor who plays a benevolent witch who saves 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren in ‘La Befana vien di notte’, by filmmaker Paola Randi. When theaters reopen in France, Bellucci will resume her solo role in the play ‘La Callas’, a first for this actress who had never been on the stage. . At least three other films are also in production in 2021. Dupis details them all.

AOC doesn’t typically focus on the fashion over the activism or values of the main character in a cover story interview. But ELLE Italia calls out the Dior white fishnet dress worn by Belluci as trend-worthy, while sharing the pedigree of fishnet.

ELLE Italia explains that fishnet garments date back to a net and beaded dress made in Ancient Egypt under the Cheops dynasty. Elite women covered themselves with the fabric embedded with precious items to show beauty and royalty. The purity of white was a distinguishing element of the designs.

Fast forward to fashion of the 70s, when every possible variation of macrame, fringes, and hippie embroideries or patches defined fishnets as a symbol of self-expression and sensuality. Bellucci’s Dior dress may be long, but that design element is offset by the plunging neckline.

Ideally — like the actor — a woman wears “under the dress nothing”. At the risk of promoting scandalous behavior among women emerging from COVID confinement in the last year, AOC recommends a light layer underneath. ELLE Italia suggests an opaque ribbed bodysuit or a blazer — which just might defeat the entire fashion proposition.

Then again, the Vatican has a hold over Italy, one long rejected by France.