One year ago, Bianca Balti spoke with Vogue about her BRCA1 diagnosis and the choice to undergo a preventative mastectomy. Earlier this week the model appeared at the Italian singing competition Sanremo 2025 without hair or wig, just months after revealing she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
“I’m not coming to be a cancer patient,” Balti said at a press conference for the event. “I don’t want to talk about the pain. I could have been lying in bed feeling sorry for myself, but instead, I want to be a celebration of life tonight.”
She wore a suite of designer dresses (Valentino, Giorgio Armani Privé, Fendi) throughout the evening, but it was the silver Roberto Cavalli gown that brought the crowd to their feet. The dress had a disco-era cutout that perfectly displayed her exposed belly and post-surgery scars. For Balti, it was a statement of self-worth. She has noted that many brands she worked with in the past have not reached out since her diagnosis. “I want to show the world the power of the look I have now,” she said. “I’ve unlocked the potential of a new me, and I feel like I’m worth it again.”
Balti’s appearance as her authentic self at Sanremo has a powerful and universal meaning: The American Cancer Society anticipated that more than two million people would be diagnosed with cancer last year, and the number is growing. Balti shows us there is beauty in even the most challenging and frightening phases of life. Plus, she reminds everyone whose body has been changed by illness that they are still worthy of wearing the dress and having fun at the party—an important reminder, indeed.
