05 February 2012

Monday's Muse: Zhao Lei

Chinese model Zhao Lei is my new obsession; He's studying for a medical degree and his ambition is to have his own fashion brand. Hobbies include basketball, swimming and music.
I like him for his essential 'niceness': he just seems so nice!

10 comments:

  1. Bravo! So good to see a visual Celebration of the famed Mr Zhao! ;)

    EA

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    1. dear max: but this is in response to your celebration of hao hao I didn't have enough time to put in a better case but when I finally get home this weekend you will see what I mean. X

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    2. Dear DG

      But this is more than good enough for me already dear. An impressive array!

      As a matter of fact, I re-posted the last pic where he smiles - so rare! - on my Chinese Weibo, and to a fair amount of fan admiration, too, coming from the Mainlanders themselves.

      As you may know, many PRC fashionistos/fashionistas have been rather lukewarm about Mr Zhao too...:(

      EA

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    3. Dear EA: This is very interesting. I'm very keen to learn why the fashionista mainlanders have not taken to zhaozhao.
      I was going to try to explore why I'm obsessed with him (or the way he looks anyway).
      Someone here has said that he looks like he belongs in a wuxia movie - just give him a sword. I think that more or less sums it up: he looks like the traditional chinese hero. He could be a scholar-prince, a monk-prince, a soldier, a poet.
      He's like a Jay Chou song. He looks the way a Jay Chou song sounds. Does it make sense?
      If you don't understand this no one will.
      X

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    4. A Jay Chou song embodied - what a Brilliant analogy! Except that I think he's a bit more on the refined side; but just difference in degrees, not in kind.

      As to why the Mainland Fashionistos/Fashionistas haven't sufficiently warmed to him: let me qualify by saying that they all seem rather proud of what he has achieved internationally i.e the number of Milan/Paris shows he has walked and editorials for international mags he's done.

      But there is also a rather strong sense of 'Why him?'. This becomes clear when you place his look next to, say, that of someone like the actor Huang Xiaoming/黃曉明 or the singer/actor Hu Ge/胡歌 (before his tragic car accident); as the latter two are commonly accepted...

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    5. ...as the paradigm of 'good-looks', by mainstream Mainland standard.

      Put it this way: if a PRC film company were casting for male actors, Mr Zhao would almost inevitably be, I'm fairly sure, placed into a supporting role, rather than that of the leading man, which would go to someone like Mr Huang...:(

      EA

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    6. Dear EA: But why? That's what I'm interested in. ZZ and Huang Xiaoming are completely different types! In fact the latter is but half ZZ's height surely. HXM has rather a TVB look about him and it never registers that he's from China - i keep thinking of him as being HK.
      X

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    7. Dear DG

      Yes - Height would be a problem, as it would be so hard to find matching actresses within even hailing distances - Ms Chi-ling Lin notwithstanding - of these towering model boys!

      Or, for that matter, everyone else within the same cast.

      As for HXM having a 'TVB' look: that's a very good, and very apt, description. That's precisely the kind of looks that will sell among mainstream Chinese marketS, as it transcends geographical boundaries.

      EA

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