Rafael Duarte in Kin

Rafael is what happens when melancholy becomes magnetic. With his honey brown eyes and the permanent suggestion of stubble along his jawline, he carries the saudade of his city in every expression: a wistful intensity that makes him lethal in editorial, fragrance, and luxury campaigns. Born in Lisbon's Alfama district to a family of fado musicians, he grew up surrounded by the kind of emotional depth most models have to fake; Rafael simply arrives with it. A published poet with two collections under his belt (both critically praised, both commercially invisible, which he considers a badge of honor) he writes in Portuguese and refuses to translate, insisting that "some feelings don't survive the crossing." He's also a devoted custard tart critic, maintaining a private ranking of every pastelaria in Lisbon that has caused at least two friendships to fracture. Currently single, perpetually romantic, and convinced that the perfect sentence is always one draft away.