It was a goatee that led gum into the world of fashion modeling.
This is according to the latest Hugo Boss model, 26 year-old Alex Lundqvist, from Sweden.
The flavour of the year in model modeling was in town last Thursday for a trade launch of the new Hugo Boss fragrance, Boss, at Venom disco.
Never mind that he is a hulking 1.83m with a baby face, sky-blue eyes, a golden tan and the muscle-bound torso of a competitive swimmer, which he was in his teens.
He told Sunday Plus at an exclusive interview before his disco appearance that he thought his looks and build were "ordinary".
In fact, he said that in Sweden, his 22-yes-old physical-therapist brother, Max, and his 18-year-old undergraduate-sister, Karolina, are considered better-looking than he is.
But for the fact that he had grown a goatee when he ran into top fashion photographer Bruce Weber, in Milan when he was 22 and bumming around Europe, he reckons he might never have become a male supermodel.
This was in 1994 when the fashion media had just turned its attention to super male models.
Before that, the field was seen as the preserve of men who were effeminate, unbecomingly vain or egotistic.
But the growth in the men's clothing market and male fashion magazines of the 80's had created a new generation of credible, he-man models in Marcus Schenkenberg, also from Sweden and Mark Van Der Loo from the Netherlands, among others.
However, unlike one of their most infamous female counterparts, Linda Evangelista, they can never claim that they will not get out of bed for less than US$10,000 a day.
Not that Lundqvist is complaining about the lower modeling rates of his gender.
He leads in the current second wave to male supermodels with quirkier, alternative looks as compared to the archetypical chiseled, square-jawed van Der Loo.
The ccmputer-science graduate said he had to work at part-time jobs from mailboy to cleaner, from the age of 13 till he was 18, to buy his first Harley Davidson bike.
But with his modeling fees of last five years, he has been able to splurge on two more Harleys, which he calls the loves of his life, after his family.
His latest was built from scratch, at twice the cost of a pre-assembled bike, over six months last year, he said with certain pride.
He was trying to prove a point that not all male models are poseurs. But with his then-distinctive, moustachioed, goateed Don Juan looks, Lundqvist's model career immediately took off with the Versace, Guess? And Boss campaigns in quick succession.
For Versace, he is the best remembered for posing with a topless Helena Christensen.
For Guess? He was seen gyrating passionately with blond goddess, Juila Valet to a bongo beat.
For Boss, he models for its underwear advertisements, catwalk shows and will be seen on print, TV and cinema advertisements in Singapore, from next month, for the November launch of the Boss fragrance, exclusively at Robinsons.
But guess what?
He claimed that he remembered the Versace advertisement best for its being the rare fashion shoot when he could converse with a fellow European - Christensen is Danish in Swedish.
"I was brought up to always see a person as a whole," he said earnestly.
What's more, he also does not know how to dance even though it looked like he was a pro at it in the Guess? ad.
" But yes, I'm the great pretender," he added with a twinkle in his blue eyes.
It explains why such diverse brands as upmarket Versace to mass market G2000 can book him for their seasonal advertisements.
Lundqvist said he is no snob when it comes to his togs and his modeling jobs. Thanks to his close family ties and his interest in religion philosophy, which he said keeps him "sane".
That is why his current bedtime book is Benjamin Hoff's Tao of Pooh, on religion according to Winnie The Pooh bear.