Vogue Partnerships

Actor Melania Dalla Costa Guides Vogue Through The Milan Spots That Make Everyday Exceptional

Driving Grecale, Maserati’s new SUV, the Italian-French actor considers the past, present, and future of Milan in an extraordinary city tour

“Milan is the metropolis that moves, in perfect and dynamic balance, between history and modernity,” says Melania Dalla Costa. Shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun, she looks out of her window at the curved top of Bocconi University in the Navigli area of the city. “It is full of beauty,” she smiles delightedly, before stepping out of her Maserati Grecale to explore the scene around her. Dalla Costa, an Italian-French actor, writer, producer and activist, has chosen the university, with its vast, sweeping design, as her first port of call to show Vogue her city. She is visiting four Milan locations in Maserati’s new Grecale SUV, exploring both the city and the vehicle that make every day exceptional. While the Grecale is available in three versions: GT, Modena, and Trofeo, Dalla Costa drives the Modena, with its four-cylinder hybrid engine. The car has an iridescent grey hue, grigio cangiante as the Italian brand calls it, inspired by the freshness of summer light. Its sheen reflects the Milanese locations Dalla Costa loves to explore, the resplendent architecture mirrored in the vehicle making the ride truly exquisite.

Opened in 2019, Bocconi University was designed by SANAA Studio of Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa. The combined effect of the transparent design of the buildings and the 17,000 square meters of greenery open to the public, shape a new and organic urban campus for the students, as well as the community around it. “The Bocconi University is renowned and recognized worldwide for its history and prestige,” says Dalla Costa, explaining she loves to drive to a place that represents great ideas and progress not only inside its walls, but outside too.

Courtesy of Conde Nast

“I come from a tiny mountain village called Enego,” says Dalla Costa. To her, Milan represents a “city of possibilities. It can change the fate of a person: it did with me”. With her striking eyes and keen sense of humor, as well as style, Dalla Costa is an immediately recognizable figure in Italian culture. Known for her multiple award-winning films as well as her powerful testimonial for the 2019 United Nations campaign against violence towards women, she has worked to be known as an inspiration to everyone around her.

In contemplating her past and discussing her achievements, Dalla Costa senses a need every Milanese knows well: the call of the mid-morning ristretto. Nowhere in Milan is more perfect for an espresso than Corso Genova’s Pasticceria Cucchi, especially if a decadent dolce is required as an accompaniment, so she heads there eagerly, in the car.

Courtesy of Conde Nast
Courtesy of Conde Nast

Gliding into the peaceful square which houses the patisserie in her Maserati Grecale, Dalla Costa parks then chooses one of her favorite tables out front. Eighty years have passed since the Milanese jet set were welcomed to the Pasticceria Cucchi, making it the symbol of cosmopolitan chic in the city it is, and 15 years since it’s been declared a “historical locale” of Italy. Dalla Costa enjoys a lemon tart with delicate Italian meringue, chatting to the waiter in swift dialect. “Milan is a very fast city, but you have to be very careful because of the traffic,” she says, sipping her coffee. She explains she would recommend the Grecale to other women especially, as it is “a beautiful, stable car that embraces innovation, with overwhelming performance. It is a safe and chic car.”

Our next stop is the Teatro degli Arcimboldi for a meeting; Dalla Costa grabs the Maserati’s key and dashes across the street. We head to the theater, the work of the famous architect Vittorio Gregotti, from Novara, in collaboration with Mario Botta and Elisabetta Fabbri. The playhouse, which takes its name from a villa belonging to the Arcimboldi family, is an arresting structure and evokes Dalla Costa’s theater training in both Milan and Rome. Leaning against the plush rear seats of the Maserati Grecale, Dalla Costa reads her script, displaying the dedication to her craft that has led critics to call her the star of Italian cinema. Happy with her lines, she heads into the theater dressed in a coat with cut-outs at the back, which reveal a bold, chartreuse slip underneath.

Courtesy of Conde Nast
Courtesy of Conde Nast

Elegant design ties this story together—in Dalla Costa’s wardrobe, the city’s structures she has chosen to highlight and, of course, the beauty of the Grecale. At dusk, Dalla Costa drives to the Piazza Adriano Olivetti, a “place of social and cultural gathering that quickly entered the hearts of the city”. The light is low, falling gently over the rooftops and trees of Milan.

As she steps out of the car, Dalla Costa points at a permanent installation, which reads “Tu Sei Futura” (You Are Future). “It always makes me think,” she says. “Every time I see it, it gives me a lot of strength and desire to fight for a better world and realize my dreams.” For Melania Dalla Costa, Milan offers the future she will make happen. Exploring her city in Maserati’s Grecale—a vehicle that makes the everyday exceptional—she embodies a truly Italian individuality.

Courtesy of Conde Nast

Read more about the Maserati Grecale here.

Share now on:
FacebookXEmailCopy Link