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Bryan Boy Earns Handsome Rewards for His Blogging

Bryan Boy is one of the judges of Sunglass Hut’s Full Time Fabulous Blogger competition, in which the winner gets a salary of $100,000 and a furnished luxury apartment in New York City, rent-free, for one year. At a dinner for the ten finalists at Sunglass Hut’s Fifth Avenue flagship last night, Bryan Boy told The Cut that blogging exclusively for a corporate site is a terrific opportunity, although it probably would not be right for him because he loves the freedom he has writing his own site. Also, he said, he makes more than $100,000 per year. While most of his revenue comes from advertising on his blog, now that he’s in demand, he charges fees for appearances and chooses which events he wants to go to. “But if it’s something or somebody that I support, then of course I’m not going to charge,” he said. “For me money is really not the issue, it’s about getting material and getting my content.”

Highlights of the 24-year-old’s career so far include having a Marc Jacobs bag named for him and sitting beside Anna Wintour at a Dolce & Gabbana show, even though she didn’t speak to him. “But, two weeks later they e-mailed me and we did that shoot together in the March issue of Vogue,” he said. After that the grande dame of fashion seemed less terrifying: In February of this year at Prabal Gurung, Bryan Boy tapped Wintour on the shoulder and thanked her for the Vogue feature. “She said, ‘Oh, it’s you. They were great photos, thank you for doing it.’ And since then I approach her during Fashion Weeks, say hi, and she’s so wonderful. So for me I don’t really understand the whole hullabaloo about how she’s this cold icy person. She’s been warm and gracious to me.”

Despite flying all the way from the Philippines for Monday’s dinner, Bryan Boy says he would never move to New York. “People are never happy here. There’s this insane drive and ambition and desire to go always up to the next level to the point where they’re never happy,” he says. “Even if you’re going out with somebody, they’re always looking for other hot guys. Everyone is on Grindr, you know what I mean?” he added. “I have so many gay friends here, and, you know, it’s Grindr, Manhunt, Adam4Adam, Craigslist, all these.”

But he is considering relocating — to Sweden, to be with his boyfriend. Right now, they see each other once a month in Europe or wherever else Bryan Boy may be. The two met when they shared a table at a crowded café in Sweden, and the guy, who is a banker, did not know who Bryan Boy was. “Which I love,” Bryan said. “Totally unrelated to fashion; fashion meets finance.”

Bryan Boy Earns Handsome Rewards for His Blogging