This article first appeared in the September 2022 issue of Elle Spose magazine.
Nicole and Aurora Cavallo they are so similar, but they couldn’t be more different. Own brand wedding dress designer Nicole Milan first, tiktoker and aspiring chef @cookergirl second; One is 26 years old, the other is 21, they are sisters, but above all girls of their time. Passionate, ambitious, and complementary, they have learned to turn their differences into strengths. As they tell us in this double interview.
Nicole, what is your relationship with cooking, and Aurora, what is your relationship with fashion?
Aurora: Nicole completely defines my relationship with fashion. I believe that it is necessary to be aware of your limits, she understands them much better than me, and I entrust myself to her with my eyes closed.
Nicole: I think the most appropriate adjective is bad. I’m really missing the basics, I’ve never cooked in my life, and I’m under the impression that cooking is a waste of time: better get out!
Nicole inherited her passion for fashion from her grandmother and mother (Alessandra Rinaudo, creative director of Pronovias, ed.), Aurora often dedicates her recipes to grandmothers. How important is family to you?
N: We are a close-knit family, my grandmother has always been a very caring woman and was my first source of inspiration. I said that I would never take this job, then when I grew up, I liked it, and I also went down this path.
A: My passion for cooking was born to fill a gap. My parents always came home late from work and did not have time to cook, my grandmothers cooked more for work than for pleasure, so I accepted the challenge and they immediately supported me.
What do you have in common and what makes you different?
N: I am always sunny and positive, Aurora has more bad days than yes. She is capricious, I am stable. She is an introvert, I am sociable. What unites us is that we are driven by a great passion, albeit a different one, and determined to follow it.
A: When we were little, we always clashed, then work in social networks brought us very close, because, despite the differences, we speak the same language.
Both talked to the drummers on Instagram: Nicole gave wedding advice, Aurora showed how her recipes were made. How long does it take you to create it?
N: I do it as a frame for my work, which is not from influencers, but from designers, so it doesn’t take long. At first I did more complex montages, now I have a simpler approach and the videos do not take me more than half an hour.
A: It takes me longer because cooking also requires technical time. But for me it’s a full time job, I do up to 5 a day and recording, editing and publishing take me about 3/4 hours each.
You are both very popular on social media. What is your relationship with subscribers?
N: Nice. I give advice to the bride and groom and act as a liaison between the bride and groom to send helpful messages to each other about the do’s and don’ts of this big day.
A: My community is very attached to me and really appreciates that I am so attached to the family. Between one recipe and another, they also attached themselves to my life and traced its evolution: school, university, first job …
What is your favorite recipe?
Answer: Pasta with tomato sauce.
N: Bread, pizza and focaccia, which Aurora cooks very well.
Sustainability is a topic that is close to both of us: Nicole launched a collection We do EcoAurora often suggests the use of products 0 km What contribution can fashion and cuisine make to the planet today?
Answer: The evidence is in favor of food: the food system is one of the causes of climate change. I believe in the need for transition, however gradual, and I try to convey that with my recipes.
N: The wedding dress is perhaps, by definition, the least sustainable, because it is not meant to be reused. In this sense, we are taking small steps, offering customers the opportunity to choose sustainable materials and modify the dress to give it a new life.
Aurora, you are very young, but you have already published a book: soul kitchen. Can you tell us?
This is a book that tells about me through recipes. Each recipe is associated with a memory, and its peculiarity is that it is not divided into appetizers, entrees, main courses and desserts, but into a menu for special occasions, an idea that I owe to Nicole. It was a wonderful and very enjoyable experience.
Nicole, you are very young, but already the creative director of a successful brand. What are the pros and cons of a responsible role like yours?
The pro is, of course, the amount of experience at an age when many girls are still studying. The downsides, the mistakes that can be made and the consequences they can have for employee turnover and for people: with more power comes more responsibility.
Source: Elle