Tuesday, July 3, 2012

A Few Good Men: Dino Hillas

 

 
américain, Dino Hillas, fitness, habillés, 
américain, Dino Hillas, fitness, habillés,  

A lot of people misjudge our cover model, Dino Hillas, perhaps because of his outward appearance. They think he’s all about bars or circuit parties. But the L.A. native says that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“I love cooking and entertaining my friends in my home,” he says. “I am attracted to someone who is grounded, takes pride in his home or apartment, has direction and loves to hang anywhere. Nowhere fancy—it could be a restaurant, a quiet park or beach, the gym or even at home watching Netflix. Sometimes I like to go out and have a blast, but I tend to enjoy something just normal and easy. Above all, I am a traditionalist and a one-man guy, so if I fall in love, it is with one man.”
The 53-year-old gym rat has had two 10-year relationships and has been single for three years. In a mate, Dino typically looks for someone quiet, low-key, loyal and honest—and he loves when there is mutual respect in a relationship.
A perfect first date for Dino would be something casual, like a trip to Ojai or Montecito for dinner on a Victorian porch, a long walk, perhaps a picnic in a quiet park, maybe on the beach somewhere secluded or even somewhere for dinner in Hollywood or on the Westside. “Typically, if there was a mutual connection, at the end there would be a long, slow kiss goodnight. ‘No tongues,’ as quoted by Madeline Kahn in Young Frankenstein,” he says with a laugh.
On a more serious note, Dino survived a terminal illness that motivated him to become the body builder, fitness model and business owner he is today. Having had nothing to start with and wanting to get out of his personal hell, he put one foot in front of the other, one day at a time, rebuilding his body, his company and his life against all odds. For this reason, Dino knows that if you want something, you have to work for it, and if you want it badly enough, it will happen.
Dino owns Moda Dora Gift and Home, Ltd., a 6,000-square-foot wholesale home furnishings showroom at the L.A. Mart near Downtown. “We are a sales agency for various furniture, better gift and lighting lines. We represent and sell to the finest retail stores, discriminating interior design firms, independent designers and Hollywood celebrities,” he explains. “Over the years, our products have been seen on the big screen, numerous television shows, at the Oscars, Grammys and celebrity weddings. Most recently, I created a website, modadora.com, for the candles I design.”
While Dino loves to travel (he prefers old-world to exotic beach destinations), he says he tends to stay close to home because of his devotion to Moda Dora. “I know that’s boring, but if I had a significant man in my life who wanted me to travel, I would leave my business and take the time to enjoy our life,” he says.
But being bound to the City of Angels for work is not exactly a bad thing in Dino’s eyes, since he has a lot of love for his hometown. His favorite aspects of L.A. include all the activities it provides—long bike rides along the beach strand, the diversity of Beverly Hills versus Venice Beach and day trips along the coast in his vintage Triumph TR6 to Santa Barbara, the central coast or Laguna Beach. “I love our weather and restaurants—dining on the Westside, on a side street in Venice or in our local mountains in the middle of Topanga Canyon.”
One place you’re sure to find Dino is at the gym, where he spends 75 minutes doing full-body weightlifting at least five days a week. For the most part, he tries to make healthy choices, but he’s known to fall off the wagon every now and then for a bucket of KFC.
“I enjoy my life—who I have become—and I’m excited about what the future will bring,” Dino says. “My dear friend Renee Strauss from Brides of Beverly Hills and I are working on a big project for next March, which I cannot say anything about. This is new and exciting and one of the wonderful things I am looking forward to in 2014!”

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