📸

DREAM LIFE

He’d gather up armfuls of Armani T-shirts, a clutch of Gucci sunglasses or five or six pairs of Diesel jeans and take the lot, rarely asking prices. These were the essentials. In Amsterdam, he stocked up on his favourite Prada shoes at €600 a pair.

I love those shoes. I love to shop in Amsterdam. Prada T-shirts, Armani T-shirts. I wore them tight, so they stretch a little bit and can show my body. Normally white or bright colours, because I have dark skin.

– Rafael

Although, like most men, he wasn’t a natural-born shopper, he was lured into shops by something catching his eye in a magazine or a shop window. In Singapore one day, on the way home from a trip to pick up cash with his friend Jando, they went hunting for a Rolex he’d spotted in a magazine and had to have – the huge price tag only increasing its allure.

I got crazy when I saw it in a magazine. I wanna have this shit, I’m gonna buy one. A big, beautiful piece; this model is hard to find but I see the price. What? . . . €25,000.

– Rafael

The moment he found it in a Singapore shop he unclasped his US$3000 brushed-gold limited edition TAG Heuer and sold it to Jando, who’d shamelessly coveted it, for US$1000. Rafael paid cash for the Rolex, avoiding credit cards and traceable records, and strapped it straight onto his wrist.

Back in Bali he relished flaunting his Rolex, even risking wearing it in the surf.

📸