Yuzuru Hanyu | Page 236 | Golden Skate

Yuzuru Hanyu

These two latter fanart works, and many others, refer to the exceedingly successful photo shoot published by Elle Japon, of photos of Yuzuru Hanyu by fashion photographer Tokay, last June. This issue of Elle, with a choice between two different covers, had to be reprinted several times, including before its release, which was a first time for Elle Japon. Some of its photos, plus others unpublished, constituted the inaugural exhibition of the brand new Gucci Gallery in Gucci's new building in Ginza, Tokyo, which was also oversubscribed in spite of its duration and the time limitation to view it (two minutes per visitor if I remember well?).
Both covers inspired a lot of fanart! The left one was dubbed "Butterfly":
https://twitter.com/ellejapan/status/1670612363597471744
 
But the story of Yuzuru Hanyu's love for Gucci may be much older. After the Great Eastern Earthquake and Tsunami, Gucci had ordered silk from the Sendai silk making company (usually they make a silk for hakama, the traditional male "trousers", called for this reason sendaihira):
https://twitter.com/NoLife_NoYuzuzu/status/1671976570788147200?cxt=HHwWgMDT6aT1hrQuAAAA


Then, they had made handbags with this silk, and auctioned them; they had donated the money from this auction to rebuild Tohoku after the earthquake. Yuzuru Hanyu's favourable opinion of them, may have been an unexpected result of this good deed.
 
On Gucci's side, many fans, particularly from China and Japan, congratulated Gucci on having succeeded in securing Yuzuru Hanyu's collaboration. Yet, many expect that Yuzuru Hanyu's visibility may increase too; just as there have been new fans at every new exposure, including this ELLE x Gucci photo shoot, we can expect Gucci Brand Ambassadors new fans: welcome! Please enjoy what can be seen of his skates, either during his competitive years (he was a Senior Skater from 2010 to 2022, but his Junior and even Novice days are worth watching) as in his ice shows, collective or solo (for the latter, Prologue, GIFT at Tokyo Dome, and RE_PRAY, for which a fourth stop in Sendai on April 7th and 9th was added, registration for the ticket lottery starts today 15th (Japan time) but don't be too optimistic, the winning rates are very low, such is the demand; we can hope live viewing in movie theatres as for the previous stops and shows, and paying broadcast; RE_PRAY in Saga Day 1 is to be broadcast tomorrow 16th on TV Asahi CS2).

I have read (without source) that until the ELLExGucci photo exhibition at the Gucci Ginza Gallery, the Gucci shop with highest sales was a shop in Chengdu, China; since this photo shoot, it was said to have become the Ginza shop. What is certain, is that many fans showed what they had bought in the Gucci shop after their visit at the gallery, that the luggage shown in one of the covers was sold out and additional ones had to be sent from Gucci headquarters (in fact, most Yuzuru Hanyu-related Gucci articles sold out, but this luggage was so expensive...), and this may have helped Gucci to understand the benefit of associating with his name.

This Chinese fan is starting the same, they bought the shoes shown on the announcement (we can also see the Notte Stellata backpack):
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5011923756910575
6ac0b705gy1hnqslrv7noj20u014014e.jpg
 
I couldn't stop smiling when I saw the post.

GUCCI has announced it on their social medias.
It's such a high prestige endorsement, and he deserves all the love he is getting.
I've developed a sudden interest in high fashion, it worked 🤣
Yep, me too (and I am NOT the shape nor the image for it, but if they want to show yuzu in clothes like that of the photoshoot, and that puffer jacket (I don't even like them, and somehow he made it look good!) I am all for it.
And it must be said that this news isn't interesting only to Japanese people. It is everywhere else too, but particularly in China:
Of course the Chinese have one of the mega-sized Global ambassadors in actor Xiao Zhan, but there is room for quite a few and it certainly won't hurt Yuzu's profile there even more.
 
Of course the Chinese have one of the mega-sized Global ambassadors in actor Xiao Zhan, but there is room for quite a few and it certainly won't hurt Yuzu's profile there even more.
Certainly, but now, taking the opposite viewpoint (that of Chinese potential brand ambassadors) I'm wondering if those highly-paid "jobs" advertised on Chinese social media (the equivalent of 1$ per post on social media denigrating Yuzuru Hanyu) and other suspect bot activity, were not from people who had got a leak, or a guess that it could happen, and who wanted the job for themselves (or their client, if they were an agency). If so, somehow it's reassuring, as it seems to be something quite common in China, but his fans wondered why, having little activity there (except ambassador for Citizen watches or SEKKISEI, but these are Japanese brands). Now, it seems to have been some struggle to prevent the deal, well, it was defeated so let's celebrate!
 
An article on the upcoming dramatisation of Onmyoji O, based on a bestselling book about Seimei Abe: the director gives his inspiration as Yuzuru :love::love::love:
film.jpg
Can you imagine how glorious a costume like this would look on Yuzu? Je would totally rock it.
 
On Gucci's side, many fans, particularly from China and Japan, congratulated Gucci on having succeeded in securing Yuzuru Hanyu's collaboration. Yet, many expect that Yuzuru Hanyu's visibility may increase too; just as there have been new fans at every new exposure, including this ELLE x Gucci photo shoot, we can expect Gucci Brand Ambassadors new fans: welcome! Please enjoy what can be seen of his skates, either during his competitive years (he was a Senior Skater from 2010 to 2022, but his Junior and even Novice days are worth watching) as in his ice shows, collective or solo (for the latter, Prologue, GIFT at Tokyo Dome, and RE_PRAY, for which a fourth stop in Sendai on April 7th and 9th was added, registration for the ticket lottery starts today 15th (Japan time) but don't be too optimistic, the winning rates are very low, such is the demand; we can hope live viewing in movie theatres as for the previous stops and shows, and paying broadcast; RE_PRAY in Saga Day 1 is to be broadcast tomorrow 16th on TV Asahi CS2).

I have read (without source) that until the ELLExGucci photo exhibition at the Gucci Ginza Gallery, the Gucci shop with highest sales was a shop in Chengdu, China; since this photo shoot, it was said to have become the Ginza shop. What is certain, is that many fans showed what they had bought in the Gucci shop after their visit at the gallery, that the luggage shown in one of the covers was sold out and additional ones had to be sent from Gucci headquarters (in fact, most Yuzuru Hanyu-related Gucci articles sold out, but this luggage was so expensive...), and this may have helped Gucci to understand the benefit of associating with his name.

This Chinese fan is starting the same, they bought the shoes shown on the announcement (we can also see the Notte Stellata backpack):
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5011923756910575
6ac0b705gy1hnqslrv7noj20u014014e.jpg
Gucci ambassadorships are prestigious and high-profile, and celebrities from all areas would do anything to get one.

Yusu was just... Yuzu. I think fans can stop worrying that he doesn't know what he is doing with his pro career.
 
And still more selfies with Yuzu coming from NS skaters! Here's from Violetta and from Satoko below :love:


... (for some reason I find the second one from Satoko particularly cute) :)
 
Back
Top