If you were around in the 80's, you may remember the rise in popularity of GQ magazine, and if you had seen GQ then, you have seen Bruce Hulse. His face defined the era. The careers of male models were exploding with iconic ads for Ralph Lauren, Levi's and Calvin Klein jeans and underwear. It wasn't Bruce, but this was the time of five story billboards of tanned male models in white Calvin briefs. Bruce quickly rose to the top of the field to become a supernova of the industry, named one of the top ten male models of all time.
In Sex, Love, and Fashion, he recalls hanging with his surfer friends as a lifeguard on South Jersey's Avalon Beach, studying comparative religion and Buddhism at college, and nervously trying art modelling. From there he did a few shoots in Paris, and soon developed a career as a working model.
He worked with (now supermodels) Andie McDowell, Elle MacPherson and Cindy Crawford, as well the top men like Todd Irvin and Jeff Aquilon. It was early in all their careers, and he was taken under the wing of the top photographers and artists such as Herb Ritts and Bruce Weber. These photos, to a large degree, formed the aesthetic of the 80's, with many becoming iconic. This was a time when Ritts and Weber among others, were stepping out from behind the camera to become international household names, and designers were using both the medium and the models to create their brands.
Sex, Love, and Fashion is well written and shows enough of each side of Bruce Hulse to form a satisfying memoir. There are glamorous locales and the top men and women models to work with, including many escapades which would fulfil someone's biggest fantasy. And there is the real Bruce Hulse; photographer, surfer, and student of Buddhism.
His career, like many other models, was based on being in the right places, meeting the right people, and having the right look, but also being a professional, caring person. He tends to flip from international model to leaving it all for a more Buddhist life, or simply surfing with his friends again, but the balance seems to have worked. Besides marrying and raising two kids, he has created a lifetime career in modelling, well into his fifties, which seems a difficult thing to maintain. I was impressed by the man behind the look, and to learn about his world from a true insider.
2008 / Hardcover / 352 pages
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