Elisa Sednaoui Dellal for ERMANNO SCERVINO
With model, actress, director, philanthropist and mother on her achievements list, there isn’t a single doubt Elisa Sednaoui Dellal is driven and passionate.
The stunner with a French/Egyptian father and an Italian mother was born in Italy, then spent her formative years in Egypt. However, Elisa had to leave the country she loves so much and move to Italy once her parents separated. She also spent time in France.
Growing up as the perfect example of a ‘citizen of the world’, she learnt to speak five languages and is now adding Portuguese to the remarkable list. Here’s some more to know about the adventurous, hard-working and stylish LA-based dynamo.
The Model
Elisa’s beautiful, exotic looks, which can probably be credited to her Italian, Egyptian and French gene pool, allowed her to start modelling at 14. She got her first job thanks to being around during a shoot with her then model-agent mother.
The green-eyed stunner, who is now with IMG Models, has done campaigns for Roberto Cavalli, Armani, Moschino, Missoni and Diane von Furstenberg, with the latter giving her a helping hand while she was in New York. However, it’s probably her association with Chanel and being one of Karl Lagerfeld’s muses that’s been really pivotal for her modelling career.
Plus, the determined and feisty Elisa has been on the cover of magazine’s like “Glamour Italia,” “Marie Claire,” “Vanity Fair” and American and Italian “Vogue.”
The Actress & Director
Elisa made her first feature film, “Eastern Drift” in 2010. She has also appeared in films like “Bus Palladium” and Karl Lagerfeld’s short film, “Remember Now.” Another one of her movies, “Love Lasts Three Years,” was released in 2012, while “The Legend of Kaspar Hauser,” “Les Gamins” and “Soap Opera” are some of the others she starred in.
The 30-year-old can even be found behind the camera. Elisa co-directed “Kullu Tamam” (Everything is Good), a film that tells the stories of Egyptians who, despite their differences of age and belief, share the sudden discovery of what we usually call “freedom of expression.” She’s also behind documentaries “Bukra Insh’Allah” and “In Conversation with Vogue Arabia”.
The Philanthropist
Since 2013, Elisa, who secretly married gallerist Alexander Dellal with whom she has two sons, has been able to add cultural attaché to her impressive resume. She decided to start changing things for the better in the places she knows and are close to her heart, Egypt and Italy.
The Elisa Sednaoui Foundation’s goal is to foster the next generation of citizens and solution-makers so they will be able to enrich their communities. This is done via mission-aligned projects that use creative learning, mainly education through exposure to the arts. The staff focuses on arts and imaginative learning because they can transform the early social and cognitive development of children, nurture pioneers and problem-solvers, as well as build a sense of community and promote civic commitment. The foundation mainly aims to promote three notions: cultural exchange, fostering citizenship and promoting equality.
The foundation’s first workshop took off in Luxor’s West Bank, where it has a community cultural centre that provides after-school activities for children and young people in the community. In addition to benefitting the locals, the environmentally friendly, sustainable centre hosts classes, workshops, cultural gatherings and community events. Modelled after the pilot project in Luxor, the foundation started working in the Italian Piemonte region in May 2016.
