Zhao Lei

Zhao Lei is a Chinese model known for his international runway career and extensive magazine work. An early appearance in Prada’s advertising brought him to a global audience, followed by campaigns for European fashion houses and recurring appearances in Chinese editions of leading fashion titles.

His international breakthrough came with Prada’s spring-summer 2010 campaign and First Spring, the accompanying film directed by Yang Fudong. The Shanghai-set project introduced him through an unusual meeting of fashion and contemporary Chinese cinema, giving his early portfolio a distinctive point of departure.

Zhao subsequently walked for houses including Giorgio Armani and Raf Simons, while advertising work extended from Hugo Boss to Gap. His casting encompassed both European designer fashion and the broader commercial wardrobe. Shanghai Tang’s fall-winter 2013 campaign added a Chinese luxury label to that international portfolio.

Magazine work became an equally important part of his career. Alongside appearances in Vogue Hommes Japan and GQ China, Zhao appeared on the covers of Chinese fashion titles as the country’s editorial market expanded. He was chosen for the inaugural issue of Schön! China in 2022, photographed by Dalong Yang, linking an established modeling career to a new publishing venture.

His relationship with Prada returned to the foreground in the house’s 2024 Chinese New Year campaign. Photographed by Leslie Zhang at Prada Rong Zhai, Zhao joined a cast that included Du Juan. Prada explicitly recalled his role in First Spring, then being screened in its Shanghai exhibition Pradasphere II. Fourteen years after that early campaign, his return connected the house’s history in China with his own.