• Photography: Anastasia Panjinskaya • Makeup & hair: Tatiana Smirnova • PR: Wavemags
Maria Jose Minguez is not the typical supermodel. Yes, she has over 100K followers on Instagram and a bunch of advertising campaigns and catwalks behind her back, but she has stepped firmly on the ground and has a clear vision for the world. Just the way it is.
A trivial but always interesting question - How would you describe yourself?
I describe myself as a human with a huge empathy to others, who likes everything to be organized at home. I love sports, healthy food in general, but also chocolate crepes & coffee. I’m very emotive, shy but expressive human who will always convince people to follow their dreams and heart. I think that’s the only way to live a life full of passion, wish and charm.
I know you are all about body positivity. When did that become a part of your agenda?
When I was a kid, I was really skinny, but once I stopped practicing gymnastics because of an injury, my body weight changed. That was the first moment I was happy to see myself with bigger legs. After few years of trying strong diets that weren’t stable, I tried to move into the curve market (actually in 2015). The new situation was great because it made me release the anxiety that I got from doing strong diets the previous years. So, I just started eating normal and choosing healthy. I encourage everyone to not stress much in general. We can’t pretend to control everything and in the moment we stop stressing, we see things easier and clearer.
The modeling industry can be quite challenging. What’s really happening behind the scenes?
Behind scenes everything goes fast, fast and fast! For example, when you have an e-com or catalog, you just keep changing 100 dresses or more in 1 day only, imagine! Other day, maybe you are shooting a campaign on beautiful locations, you have great catering, make-up artists and hair stylists. Unfortunately, the pressure is mainly on them. In fashion shows, we also get a lot of time off. Most of the models are on their phones in between shows. Or reading a book, studying, chatting. Some take this break to smoke (not me, laughs) or to take pictures for Instagram (that's me!). Of course, there is always a lot of adrenaline before the show starts.
Is inner beauty still considered more important than external one, having in mind the time we live in?
I think inner beauty will always beat external one at the end, but it’s true that sometimes we take care more about the external beauty than our inner one (referring to inner beauty as our internal health, too).
Has there ever been a moment you felt like this is not the right thing for you?
Yes, when talking about measurements. But, thank god, nowadays the market is opened to every size. Now the fashion industry calls "in between” models those who aren’t "skinnies” or "curvies”.
Do you think, in general, we need to focus more on our potential and not on our weaknesses?
Definitely, we need to focus on our potential, on our virtues and even our weaknesses. Someone told me once: "Focus on improvement, never in changes”. Change is really hard, but we can always start by improving ourselves everyday a little bit, later changes will come.
People are often afraid to talk about imperfections. What’s your biggest one?
I’m unpunctual, especially when meeting my friends. Thank god I’m on time at work (most of the time). I need to add to "unpunctual” that I always want to do so many things at the same time/day and it's just not possible.
You also have acting ambitions. Have you made a move in this direction?
I just started very basics courses during the pandemic. I’m looking forward to study and get to know more about acting. I would like to continue with this profession in the future.
What do you watch when you have free time?
Of course, I enter Netflix and the rest depends on the mood. I watch romantic comedies, action movies, or even documentaries.
Whose life would you play on the big screen?
Rose in Titanic or Julia Roberts in "Eat, Pray, Love”. I just feel them a lot in these roles.
Tell us something about yourself that we won’t find on the Internet…
I have built a dressing room at my parents' house that I didn’t share yet on my Instagram but soon I will! Stay tuned and follow my journey there. Also, I have never put a picture of 'a boyfriend', because I've always kept relationships in privacy.
