In the January issue, on sale now, Julia Llewellyn Smith has an audience with Rina Lipa, the fabulously glamorous actress on the rise and Insta sensation. Styled in Richard Quinn and Vivienne Westwood, she’s indisputably a chip off the old block and few would not recognise her as the sister of millennial music prodigy, Dua Lipa.
In the interview, reminiscing about her childhood, living in Pristina, the capital of her parents’ native Kosovo, Rina says her favourite pastime was rifling through elder sister Dua’s wardrobe. ‘I worshipped her. I’d try to dress like her, I’d steal her clothes. When I wore them, I’d feel older. It’s still like that, I go through her closet and say, “Mmm, you haven’t worn that for a while.” She’s like “Oh God, bring that back!”’
Llewellyn Smith draws comparisons between the Lipa family and the Kardashians or – perhaps more accurately, the Hadids, not least since Dua has been dating Bella and Gigi’s brother, Anwar, for two years. Rina candidly explains: ‘We’re all creatives. We hang out with the Hadids and they’re really lovely.’
In the interview, Rina explains that Dua outlined her plans to return to London and become a pop star at the age of 15. ‘She was young, but she was mature, she was ready,’ she says. ‘My parents didn’t let her go easily – it was all done in a very controlled way. She had to get back at certain times and she lived with a family friend. But it was hard. I missed her. She worked very, very hard. I really looked up to her for that and I do to this day.’
Rina is undoubtedly a rising star to watch: see her take to the screen in an upcoming horror thriller directed by Italian filmmaker Gianluigi Carella.