Vladimir Ivanov (Russian: Владимир Иванов; born September 20, 1988, in Kyrgyz SSR, Soviet Union) is a Russian-American model who hails from what is now Kyrgyzstan.[1] He is known for working with the Italian brand Dolce & Gabbana, as well as his grievances while apart of Chuang 2021.

Career

He started his modeling career with JE Model Management in San Francisco. The same year he appeared at the fall issue of the Numéro Homme and then appeared in Macy's catalogue of the same year. In 2013 Nicola Trussardi have featured his face in one of his magazines and then in January he was seen on walks for such brands as Belstaff, Bottega Veneta, D&G, and for such fashion designers as Dean and Dan Caten and Frankie Morello in Milan, Italy. The same month he was photographed by Steven Meisel for Calvin Klein's jeans and then became the star of its commercial. In February 2009 he participated at the Z Zegna show in New York City and the same month was photographed by Milan Vukmirovic for the spring issue of L'Officiel Hommes. In March 2014 he appeared in Russian version of GQ magazine and in April of the same year was photographed by Kevin O'Brien for Details magazine.[2]

The same month Karl Lagerfeld photographed Ivanov for VMAN magazine and in June Roberto Cavalli photographed him for D&G following by Chad Pitman who took him for VMAN again. In January 2010 he participated in Dolce & Gabbana fashion show in Milan, and then posed in swim trunks for Calvin Klein swimwear ad where for which he was photographed by Sebastian Kim. In spring of the same year Ivanov was featured for the Vogue Hommes International where he was photographed by Patrick Demarchelier and in June of the same year in Z Zegna, Louis Vuitton, and Dean and Dan Caten shows in both Milan and Paris respectively. In 2014 he was photographed by Kai Z. Feng for VMAN and in November 2014 posed for the W magazine by Steven Meisel following by another pose for the 2015 issue of Calvin Klein magazines featuring swimwear.[2]

Career in China

After moving to China, Ivanov accepted to join a Chinese talent show, known as Chuang 2021 (known as Produce Camp 2021 in English) which has aims to create a global Chinese supergroup. Chuang 2021 was within its fourth year at the time, bringing in 90 different idols from differentiated countries, including Japan, Thailand, and Russia. The show is one of the most popular in China year over year, building 4.8 billion views on Tencent Video, and almost 2.9 billion unique engagements with the #producecamp2021 hashtag on Weibo.[3]

Ivanov was asked to give Chinese lessons to two Japanese Contestants for Chuang 2021, and Ivanov had agreed as he was fluent in the language due to his residency in the country for a multitude of years. In February 2021, Ivanov was asked to join the show as a contestant, which he swiftly agreed, saying quote, "I felt like trying out a new life."[4]

Ivanov then signed a contract that stated he could not leave his given accommodation on the Chinese island of Hainan, and would be fully cut off from the online world, restricted from the usage of any form of technology. Ivanov didn't notice this at the time, and was honest across interviews about his early grievances with being one of the many contestants on the show. In one moment on the official Chuang Asia YouTube channel, Ivanov stated "I don't want to dance. I'm also not suitable for a boy band too. So I'm really very tired. I want to go home this month." According to the contract that Ivanov had previously signed however, the only way to leave the competition was by being voted out by the millions of fans who watched it.

Lelush, the stage name given while he was a part of the competition,[5] attempted to take advantage of that clause by sleeping in, sulking, and took all opportunities to slack off.[4] However, this backfired on Lelush. The audience ended up loving his attitude. Due to this, the directors of the competition highlighted his feelings to rise the shows' overall ratings. Lelush eventually garnered a dedicated fanbase that named themselves "sun si", or "mean fans" in English, of whom continued to vote him in, and ultimately, keep him in the show.[4]

The reason for this has been interpreted from the notorious Chinese "996" work culture. This culture creates quote, "a sense of defeatism" among the younger Chinese audience that watched the show, and Lelush eventually receiving an F for one of his performances turned him into a prospect among the Chinese youth for he wasn't scared of receiving a bad grade unlike many of the viewers. This trend reached a peak when some fans began to rent billboards throughout China to encourage support for him on the show.[4][6]

Eventually, Lelush released a pleading statement saying, "If you love me, please don't support me." multiple times during the latter half of the show. Lelush's pleads worked towards his ultimate goal of removing himself from the show, eventually being voted out after 3 months on April 18, 2021, quickly dashing towards the exit while show staff pursued him after waving to the fans onstage.[4][7] His last post on Weibo read, "That you all for your support, I'm finally off duty."[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Vladimir Ivanov". Models.com. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Vladimir Ivanov". New York. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  3. ↑ Team, Dao (2021-06-10). "INTO1 & The Future of Chinese Idol Competition Shows". Dao Insights. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Lelush: How a sulky Russian model became China's slacker icon". BBC News. 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  5. ↑ Teh, Cheryl. "A Russian model trapped on a Chinese reality show was finally voted off after months of self-sabotage. He says he's happy to go home". Insider. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  6. ↑ ""笋丝"的快乐，利路修下班后也想象不到-36氪". www.36kr.com. 2021-04-27. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  7. ↑ 暴動仍淡定自拍！利路修回家路 秀戰鬥民族底氣登熱搜 @ebcstars, retrieved 2023-10-24
  8. ↑ "微博". m.weibo.cn. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
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