“Believe a thousand.” Andrea Bursten’s advice to her daughter Francesca about her and her condition for her to follow in her footsteps in fashion: “We prioritize…”

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If a picture is worth a thousand words, this scene perfectly summarizes the relationship they have. Andrea Bursten (51) and his daughter, Francesca Ribero (22): in full production exclusively for ¡HOLA! Argentina, the producer shows them a couple of dresses so they can decide which one they prefer to pose with. “Let Fran choose, I adapt,” the top model advances, while her heir smiles delightedly. In a while, when they relax in the dining room of the Palermo apartment where they live and allow themselves to chat, Andrea will expand on the matter: “I want her to feel comfortable and, since I have more room, I prefer that she choose first. I don’t like the position of division, I have never been in that position. So I take care of her, I want her to feel safe, for her to be happy.” Fran will dedicate to her: Mom is very generous! I know what I like and what I don’t like, and she always accommodates.”

–How do you feel about Fran following in your footsteps as a model?

Andrea: I like to accompany her. When they started calling her, she consulted me and I thought it was a good way for her to understand what it means to work, because she is studying Interior Design and has one year left. She has her energy there, but it seemed to me that if she tried every once in a while, she liked it and she also earned money, it was an interesting combination. We prioritize studying her and receiving money from her, but by earning her money I feel like she is more careful when spending it.

Fran: Mom, with her court, gives me advice, she tells me: “Let go, believe yourself, smile, communicate what you want to communicate.” It’s lucky to have her. Furthermore, I have been at the LO Management agency for two years, where I feel super comfortable because the owner, Lorena [Ceriscioli], is a friend of mom’s, and has known me forever. I don’t dare to do anything, it’s hard for me to jump into the pool.

–What do you admire most about each other?

Andrea: His perseverance, his firm character, the clarity he has to understand what he wants and go after it and his emotional intelligence. She is a great person, with good values, she has many friends, which is something that impresses me because she is very requested and sought after by her groups. She has made a very great personal evolution.

Fran: What we live with because of dad’s death [Federico Ribero], I learned to admire mom, how she was able to get ahead alone and being so young, with two little ones. If she wanted to cry we didn’t see her, she took great care of us and I am very grateful to her. The three of us got ahead. She is my mother, but she is also my friend, we understand each other and we accompany her, and just as I ask her for advice, she sometimes also asks me for it. We complement each other, there is trust.

–Do you also consult on matters of the heart? In your case, Andrea, starting in the summer you began to be seen with Cochito López.

–We went out for a while, but today I’m alone. The only thing that matters to my children is that I am well. Later, I would like them to be dating, but I see them well, on an interesting path.

Fran: She asks us and listens. And for us the main thing is always that she is happy. In my case, I am very single, I had a relationship for two and a half years, but I broke up a year ago. I am calm, enjoying going out, being with my friends and sometimes I love being alone, cooking, watching a movie.

–What plans do you share?

Andrea: We go out to eat, sometimes alone or with my friends. We like to travel, go shopping. I learn a lot from Fran, this is a more open, fresher generation in some sense. She is a very sensible girl, very emotionally intelligent. I really like talking to my two children [Stefano, o Fefo, como llaman a su hijo menor, tiene 19]. Fran: When we travel we both want to go to museums, shopping malls and since I’m more into what’s coming I like to suggest that she buy something. But we also do programs with Fefo, like going to the movies, going out to eat, playing ping pong or chatting about my old man.

–It will be eleven years since Federico’s death. Beyond the pain of his absence, what worried you most, Andrea?

–I was very afraid of not being able to handle the situation. Going through the pain and at the same time taking care of two boys who were also going through their pain was complex. Think that Fefo was just 8 and Fran was 11. I had a lot of help, we received a lot of love. Once, I was very distressed and a friend told me: “Andy, day by day.” A month had passed. And it’s something that stayed with me. For a long time, day-to-day life was very important, rebuilding ourselves as individuals and as a family. And understand that we had to move forward. It was my obligation as an adult and the legacy that Fede had left me. It was a lot of responsibility to start managing the company that he had left me, the finances of the house, the children and making decisions alone. If I can take something positive from the misfortune we had to go through, it is that I feel that I have evolved in many aspects: spiritually, intellectually, as a mother… I feel that I continue to grow, I am learning and this is my best version.

–What is that spiritual search like?

Andrea: It has to do with a bit of everything. There is a bit of religion, a bit of reading, connecting with people who are in the same situation as me, or chatting with a rabbi, meditating, music, which I love. In fact, I have been learning to play the guitar for a year and a half, which I had been putting off. A musician friend recommended a teacher to me. He comes once a week and I sit down to practice for an hour a day. I have always liked music, it is a moment of enjoyment. When a nice chord comes out and I can sing along, it is total happiness.

Fran: We all like music, with Fefo we don’t add to the guitar, but we are going to buy a keyboard to learn all three.

Andrea: Eleven years is a lot and at the same time it is nothing. Although the kids are older, I am dedicated to them, I want to finish getting them on track, I am 51 years old, I am fulfilled, even though there are things that were cut short along the way. Today I need to see them grow, find what is good for them and gives them happiness. There is my focus.

Fran: Dad was a spiritual and very special person, he touched people’s hearts, a very loved kid, I feel in some way that he is still alive because people remember him with a lot of love. I was a girl when he died, but I inherited things from him. Physically I look like mom, but in attitude I think I look like dad, both of us are very persevering, very sociable.

–Do you have any ritual for your anniversary?

Andrea: Let’s go to the cemetery. Last year I put together a meeting, where whoever wanted to talk and tell something about Fede. The boys leave him white roses, I red ones, sometimes I play music and ask him to take care of us, to give me a hand from wherever he is. It is very difficult to finish closing the absences, especially because Fede missed everything about our children. We once flashed with Fede her 15th birthday party and she wasn’t there, or when they finished school she wasn’t there either. That’s the part that hurts me the most. I have mine a little more elaborate, but my children’s part is an open wound, I don’t know if it will ever close. But here we are. I put a lot into it, it’s not natural for me to be happy. I wake up every day and I bet.

–What dreams do you have ahead of you?

–Professionally, restaurants are still doing well. There are six stores – from Salvador, Francesca and Public –, all with my partner Guillermo Reinwick, who is like a partner-brother-friend from whom I learned everything, my great teacher. I needed to put my head on something other than the tragedy we had gone through and he was there from day one. He was a breadwinner for the family. I’m also working a lot on networks. Personally, I was left looking forward to the family. We are a family of three, that is assumed and we are fine, but I didn’t have much time as a family of four.

–Would you like to get married again?

–No. I was married once. I don’t have that need. I’m referring more to the concept of family, to having a partner again with whom I can form something at some point. Maybe when the kids are older. After Fede died, I had a partner for five years, but each of us had our children, our house, our ways, our independent economy.

–And you, Fran?

–I dream of starting a family, it is my goal, to get married and have several children, I like a full house, that there is noise, that I don’t feel emptiness. But I still have a lot to live and enjoy, first I want to travel, see the world, be with my friends, whatever life has to offer! And, in terms of work, when I graduate, I would like to do something with furniture, there is a lot missing in that market, and remodel a hotel. I like everything related to aesthetics, fashion and design.

–Do you imagine sharing any work projects?

Andrea: Yes, in fact, we are really looking forward to making a sportswear line. We have quite similar tastes and we already had some meetings. It’s a nice challenge to work together. Fefo also has very good taste, he loves fashion, so if he wants to join we will listen to him.

Fran: It is a project that is going to add up.

–You were just talking about aesthetics. How do you take care of yourself?

Fran: I got the taste for training, it was difficult at first, but my mother was a great source of inspiration. She is also very good for my head, even though I recently started therapy. [Piensa]. It’s good to encourage yourself, to challenge yourself.

Andrea: I train five times a week with a staff, I do weights, aerobics, I’m careful with what I eat. But it’s not difficult for me, I like to take care of myself, I do a lot of things to be in the best possible shape for my age. And I’m happy with what I see.

It is time to round off, each one must continue with their activities. They say goodbye with a kiss and hug. And with the joy that in a while they will meet again.

Production: Paola Reyes

Makeup and hair: @antospinazi.makeup and @charme.makeup for @frumboliestudio

Thanks: El Camarín (@elcamarin), Santesteban (@santesteban_zapatos)