Appearing on the cover of this week’s issue of Vanity Fair Italia, Democratic Party leader hopeful Matteo Renzi has sparked amused comments in the Italian media and on social networks for his pose that some have compared to that flaunted by American popstar Justin Bieber on the cover of Vanity Fair USA.
The 38-year-old mayor of Florence, who brings a message of renovation to Italian politics, is no stranger to criticisms of his public image: he previously posed on another Italian weekly, Chi, as the character Fonzie from Happy Days and appeared on a TV program, Amici, broadcast on one of Silvio Berlusconi’s networks, with a look that to some was reminiscent of Marlon Brando’s.
With regard to the Vanity Fair cover, Renzi jokingly tweeted: “All these years of hard work have been rewarded. I reached my true goal: being on the cover of Vanity Fair.”
Renzi is viewed as the front-runner in the 2013 PD leadership election for the position of secretary at the upcoming national convention on December 8. He also hopes to become the Democratic Party's candidate for Prime Minister of Italy at the next general elections.
