John Pearson is a modelling icon with a successful career that has spanned over 30 years. He was deemed the world’s first ever “Male Supermodel” by the UK’s Sunday Times for his iconic appearance in George Michael’s “Freedom” video alongside supermodels Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell and Tatjana Patitz .
In the last half-decade alone, Pearson has worked his blue steel in the pages of Vogue Italia and Interview, flaunted salt-and-pepper hair in youth-driven indie mags like VMAN, Hercules and Arena HOMME +, and put teenage waifs to shame on the Prada runway. The father of three—who’s been married for 22 years to well known stylist, Alison Edmond—even has a fan page in the blogosphere and a burgeoning presence on Instagram.
Pearson’s impressive client list includes Burberry, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren, Valentino, Guy Laroche, The Gap, Banana Republic, GQ, L’Uomo Vogue and Vogue Hommes. The only man to appear editorially in American GQ for over three decades, Pearson works continually with the industry’s greatest photographers including Steven Meisel, Mario Testino, David Bailey, Peter Lindbergh, Bruce Weber, Patrick Demarchelier, Helmut Newton, Arthur Elgort, Mikael Jansson, Michael Thompson and Ellen von Unwerth.
Aside from modeling, Pearson contributes to British GQ. He also acted as Consulting Editor for Taschen’s Soul i-D, writing the forward for the book. He is currently working and producing a documentary on Sadhguru, founder of the ISHA Foundation, which he will also host.
Born and raised in Sheffield, in northern England, Pearson got his start at 18 while working as a manager of a denim store, telling NYPost “One day a guy came in and said, ‘I’d like to take pictures of you. I’m a photographer,’” Pearson recalls. “I was terrified. But he did take pictures and I thought, ‘Actually, they look quite good.’”
By 1986, when he was 21, Pearson had left England for New York City, where his first gig was posing for photographer Bob Frame, famous for taking the first test shots of another iconic face.
“We went into the studio — and then Cindy Crawford turned up to say hello. She’d just arrived from Chicago the week before,” Pearson recalls.
“Three days later I did the cover of Self magazine with Uma Thurman, and that was it,” he adds. “From then on it just didn’t stop.”
Despite the impressive client list, Pearson is the first to admit that being objectified for a living hasn’t always been breezy.
“I got fed up with people touching my face,” he says. “There were times I wanted to stop, and times I did stop and turned down hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
“At that point [in your career], you really are a showman,” he adds. “You’re the center of attention, but sometimes you don’t want to be the center of attention — even though you signed up for it.”
When asked by NYPost about if Zoolander was based on him, he replied that it “is a complete parody,” with a laugh, continuing on to say “I don’t think anyone would survive in the fashion business if they lived an iota of that fantasy.” And the Los Angeles-based model definitely knows a thing or two about longevity, with 2016 marking the 30th year of his remarkable career.
“Luckily, I’m of a certain age where there aren’t too many of us veterans around,” Pearson says of the rarefied group of guys still working today that earned the prefix “super” in the modelling industry’s ’80s and ’90s peak. Besides, “I’ve still got my own hair, my own teeth, I’m pretty well-maintained and don’t have a belly,” he jokes.
Needless to say, things have slowed down a bit for Pearson since his heyday — a time before musicians, reality stars, athletes and actors (and actors playing models) became first pick for endorsements, glossy covers and multi-page spreads. Still, don’t expect Pearson, a recent convert to the cult of hot yoga, to split anytime soon.
“I’m not allowed to say what it is, but I’ve got another major fragrance campaign coming out in spring,” he says. “So there’s life in the old dog yet.”
Stay tuned for FIB 5 minute web-doco Top Models vol.66 “Male Legends”
