Say that you're a low-level pro soccer player in Italy, and a fashion designer offers to let you live in a luxury apartment for free. One catch: It's in the storefront window of a boutique.
Andrea Vasa is a defender for Brera, a Milan soccer team that toils six divisions below Serie A (think Single A baseball). What you see in the photo is representative of the way he lives, except that customers can also enter his living quarters, walk around, and root through his belongings, even when he's in the shower (thankfully covered with newspaper; the only room not in public view). It's all the brainchild of German fashion designer Dirk Bikkembergs, whom I guess thought that using an attractive female athlete was out of the question. Thanks, Dirk.
The Dirk Bikkembergs flagship store is designed for and inspired by the lifestyle of passionate sportsmen who prefer functional and appealing garments that are both qualitative and exclusive. Men who are on top of their own lives, knowing exactly what they want and what it takes to get there. Take Andrea Vasa. a 30-year-old defender who plays for the local Milan club Brera. Selected by Dirk Bikkembergs himself, Andrea now lives in the flagship store under the eyes of the store's clients. Among the shelves and clothes hangers exposing the items that are for sale, Andrea's personal clothes can be found, as well as the pictures and books he chose to take with him to his new home.
Also, Andrea gets a free Porsche, and presumably gets to wear the clothes. Another condition of the deal: He can only date mannequins.
Nothing Should Surprise In Italian Football But ... [Deuce Of Davenport]
Dirk Bikkembergs
Life's A Boutique For Footballer [The Guardian]