The Italian in Malibu

I had no idea who Bianca Balti was until I saw the cover. Which is embarrassing given that she’s one of the more recognized Italian models working—Dolce & Gabbana campaigns, years of editorial work, a face that apparently exists for photography in the way some faces just do.

The July/August 2014 double issue of Playboy had her shot by Greg Lotus in Malibu. It was the kind of shoot that reminded you what the magazine could do when it stopped trying to be a lads’ mag and remembered it had always been better as a fashion book with an attitude problem. Since Kate Moss’s issue the year before, they’d clearly committed to working with actual models rather than just celebrities willing to take their clothes off, and the difference showed immediately.

Balti in that Malibu light is not something you scroll past quickly. The photographer helped. The location helped. But mostly it was just her.