With vibrant curls and dark eyes, you’ll find Argentinian model and muse Mica Argañaraz on covers, catwalks, and campaigns galore. She’s also an accomplished artist with a penchant for Bob Dylan. 

V: What does growth mean to you as a person and as a model?

Mica Argañaraz: Growth has a lot to do with becoming more comfortable with my own voice and more sure of myself. I started working at a young age, so in many ways I grew up inside this industry. This job makes you know yourself deeply, and knowing yourself better is already growth. Being far from my family, becoming independent, finding my voice, learning how to communicate better and set boundaries, all of that changed me a lot. I also doubt myself less now. With time, I learned how to separate the version of me people see online or on a billboard from the person I am at home when nobody is watching. That balance took a while to build, but now I have found ways to toggle between the job and my private life.

V: What do you want people to know about modeling that you don’t think they do?

MA: I think people don’t really understand the level of flexibility this job requires professionally, mentally, and personally. You spend a lot of time moving between fantasy and real life, and learning how to stay grounded can be complex. Fashion is built around projection and desire, so it’s important to keep perspective and remember the world outside of it too. There are many unspoken dynamics inside the industry and over time you learn how to move through them without losing yourself. Even learning how to stay connected to yourself after constantly being observed or projected onto people is a strange experience.

V: How do you think modeling will change moving forward?

MA: I think modeling will become even faster and more exposed. There is so much pressure around finding the next new thing, and I don’t think that will disappear. Careers, designers, seasons, everything seems to move quicker now in the digital age. Because of that, I think models will need to be more adaptable, but also more aware of who they are outside of the industry. When everything is moving so fast, I think having a real sense of ‘self’ becomes even more important. I also hope the industry keeps changing in a way where models are more respected as people with their own interests and personalities, not just as images.

This cover story appears in the pages of V161: now available for purchase!

Photography Luigi & Iango

Fashion B. Åkerlund

Creative Director / Editor-in-Chief Stephen Gan

Model Mica Argañaraz (DNA)

Casting Maxime Valentini (2b Management)

Makeup Tayler Treadwell (Streeters)

Hair Mari Watase (87 Artists) using Oribe

Manicure Jazz Style (See Management) using CHANEL LE VERNIS

Fashion Market Editor Copelyn Bengel

Styling Support Elanur Erdoğan (Forward Artists)

Producer Louis Guillemain (2b Management)

Cinematographer Santiago Montes

Photo Assistant Francisco Betancourt

Makeup Assistants Chloe Yang, Jack Titcomb

Production Assistants Juliet Lloyd, Angelina Aliano, Maksim Doraev