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 Sanremo 2025 (an Italian singing competition) 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.”
Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images
Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images
Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images
She wore a suite of designer dresses (Valentino, Giorgio Armani Privé, Fendi) throughout the evening, but it was the Roberto Cavalli gown that brought the crowd to their feet. The silver Roberto Cavalli gown had a disco-era cut-out that perfectly displayed her exposed belly and her post-surgery scars. For Balti, it was a statement of self-worth. In the past, she’s referenced that many brands she worked with the past have not reached out since her diagnosis. “I want to show the world the power of the look I have now,” she says. “I’ve unlocked the potential of a new me and I feel like I’m worth it again.”
SANREMO, ITALY – FEBRUARY 12: Carlo Conti and Bianca Balti attend the 75th Sanremo Music Festival 2025 at Teatro Ariston on February 12, 2025 in Sanremo, Italy. (Photo by Daniele Venturelli/Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images )Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images
For those of us outside of the vent, Balti’s appearance as her authentic self at Sanremo has a powerful and universal meaning: the American Cancer Society anticipated over two million people would be diagnosed with cancer last year, and the number is growing. Balti shows us that there is beauty in even the most difficult and frightening phases of life. Not only that, but she’s reminding every person 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.
