Vladimir Ivanov (model)

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]

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 the country 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 had then signed a contract that stated he could now leave his accommodation on the Chinese island of Hainan, and would be cut off from the online world, restricted from any form of technology. Ivanov didn't notice this, and ended up being honest across interviews about his early grievance with being one of the contestants. In one on the official Chuang Asia YouTube channel stating "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 however, the only way to leave was by being voted out.

Lelush, the stage name given while he was a part of the competition,[5] attempted to take advantage of that clause, sleeping in, sulking, and took opportunities to slack off in every way he knew.[4] However, this attempt backfired on Lelush. The audience ended up loving it. Due to this, the directors of the competition played it up to rise the shows' ratings. Lelush had ended up garnering a dedicated fanbase that named themselves "sun si", or "mean fans" in English, and continued to vote him in and ultimately, keep him in the show.[4]

The reason for this has been rooted from the notorious Chinese "996" work culture. This culture creates quote, a "sense of defeatism" among the younger Chinese audience, and Leluch eventually receiving an F for one of his performances, turning into a prospect among Chinese youth, for he wasn't scared of receiving a bad grade. This reached a peak when some fans rented billboards to encourage support for him.[4][6]

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

• Vladimir Ivanov on Models.com
• Vladimir Ivanov on Tumblr
• Vladimir Ivanov on Male Model Scene