In this personal essay, guest contributor Valentina Giacalone shares her journey from silence to visibility — and why creative expression became her tool for healing and redefining beauty beyond perfection.
For a long time, I believed silence was the safest place to hide. During high school, I experienced bullying and cyberbullying that slowly eroded my sense of self. Words, once spoken or typed on a screen, lingered far longer than bruises. They followed me home, into my room, into the mirror. I began to see myself through the distorted lens of other people’s cruelty, questioning my worth, my appearance, my right to take up space.
These experiences left no visible marks, yet they profoundly shaped me. Invisible scars are as powerful and painful as any physical wound. For a while, I allowed that pain to define me. I withdrew, convinced that becoming smaller would make me safer. But silence, I learned, does not heal; it deepens the wound.
Healing began the moment I made a different choice, to transform pain instead of carrying it.
Finding myself behind the lens
That transformation started with art. I did not initially turn to fashion and photography to make a statement. Initially, I used them simply as a refuge, a space where I could exist without explanation and express emotions without words. Standing in front of a camera, I slowly rediscovered something I had lost: control over my own image.
Fashion became more than clothing. It became armour, language, and liberation. Through styling, posing, and storytelling, I began to rewrite the narrative that had been imposed on me.
The same face that had been mocked became the centre of the frame. The same body that had been judged became a canvas of expression. Photography allowed me to see myself not through fear, but through intention.
Every image became an act of courage. In front of the lens, I was no longer the girl defined by insults.
I was present. I was visible, and I was choosing how to be seen.
Turning pain into purpose
This process did not erase my scars, but it gave them meaning. I realised that vulnerability, when embraced, could be a source of strength rather than shame. What once made me feel fragile began to make me powerful.
This awareness led me to write my book, “Cicatrici Invisibili”, published by Giovane Holden Edizioni. The book reflects my personal journey and serves as a testimony for anyone who has ever felt unseen, silenced, or diminished. It is about survival, but also about rebirth — learning to exist unapologetically after being told you shouldn’t.
Yet my journey did not stop with writing. I felt a responsibility to turn personal healing into something collective. This is how “Non Solo Moda” (“Not Only Fashion”) was born, an association that uses fashion, photography, and art as tools for social awareness, education, and personal empowerment. Through this project, I work with young people who struggle with self-image, identity, and belonging.
Many carry their own invisible scars. I have seen how creative expression can open doors that words cannot. I have also seen how a photograph can restore confidence, how a styling session can become an act of self-recognition, and how being seen with respect can change the way someone sees themselves.
Beauty as truth, not perfection
Fashion, when approached consciously, has the power to challenge stereotypes instead of reinforcing them. It can include rather than exclude. It can tell stories that are honest, complex, and human.
In a world that often equates beauty with perfection, fashion can become a radical act of truth. True beauty is not flawlessness. It is authenticity. It is the courage to show up as you are, without hiding the parts that tell your story. Our scars, emotional or physical, are proof that we survived something. They are not weaknesses; they are evidence of resilience.
Today, as a model, I see my work differently. Modelling is no longer about fitting into an ideal; it is about expanding it. It is about representation, about making space for real bodies, real stories, and actual emotions. When someone looks at my images and feels less alone, I know that my past pain has found its purpose.
The power of visible vulnerability
Sharing my story is not always easy. Vulnerability never is. But when one person speaks honestly, others feel permitted to do the same. Awareness begins with visibility, and visibility starts with courage.
Bullying thrives in silence. Healing thrives in connection. Identity is not something others get to define. We reclaim it through our voices, creativity, and choices. Whether through fashion, art, writing, or any form of self-expression, we all deserve the freedom to tell our own story.
Today, I stand not as someone without scars, but as someone who has learned to live with them openly. I am no longer afraid of being seen. I am proud of the woman I have become, not despite, but because of everything I endured.
Fashion helped me find my voice. Art helped me heal. And sharing my story is how I give that strength back to others. Because healing, like beauty, is never just about appearances. It is about truth. It is about courage. And it is about learning to love yourself, scars and all.
Read more: How body diversity is gradually fading from fashion as the era of “quick thin” returns
