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Life According To Ted Pullin
written CHIDOZIE OBASI
Striking in expression and poignant to the core, there are not many talents whose presence and resonance sprawlingly stretch beyond fashion’s mere fixtures like that of Ted Pullin. Raised in the countryside of Oxfordshire, his personality telegraphs into two contrasting sides. “On the one hand I’m very social, I love people, and get so much energy from being out with my mates,” he confesses, “on the other, I need time alone, and one can see this in my hobbies.” Pullin’s dearest pursuit is performing stand up comedy.
The pressure of entertaining and the interactions with the audience are hugely extroverted,” he says. One of his other passions is fishing, which is as far away on the spectrum of social activities as possible. “I fish to have time alone amid nature, and I rarely let anyone else come along; it would defeat the point otherwise,” he says. “It gives my brain time to do whatever it wants, its proper space to think.” As the middle child, he deems his two brothers “the best friends in the world.” But there’s more to that story. “We lost our father eleven years ago, which meant our only real male influence in our lives were each other,” he shares, with unguarded honesty. “If the bond of brotherhood was strong before, going through that loss together has made it completely indestructible. I’m a proud university drop out, and that was the best decision I’ve ever made: there were a million reasons why I decided to leave, also a couple of reasons to stay,” he says. “My life would look so different now had I chosen to stay, but I wouldn’t change a thing about it now.” Pullin’s a sports pundit, with rugby being chief among them. “It’s given me a framework for life now that influences my decision making every day.”As for the rest? You’ll probably read it here first. You’re welcome.
Ted wears total look by LORO PIANA
Chidozie Obasi
How has the past year been for you?
Ted Pullin
In a word: explorative, both in a literal and geographical sense, as well as more inwardly. 27 has felt like a year of figuring the world, and my place in it, out. How can I build a world around me that looks the way I want it to for both myself and my future family? What am I putting my time and energy into and why? Am I happy? And is that happiness intrinsic or extrinsic? People talk about your late teens and early twenties as the period of your life where you start to figure things out, but I’m learning more and more that there isn’t an end to that ‘figuring out’ process. This year has topped the charts in many metrics for me. It's been the most fun, the scariest, the most exciting, most tiring, and the year in which I’ve taken the most risk. I’m aware not all of those sound positive, but it's all added up to this being arguably the best year of my life so far.
Could you cite the biggest influences or references you had and looked up to, while growing up?
Honestly, the biggest influence on who I am today comes from the sport of rugby. It instilled a moral framework in my life that has been invaluable to me every day, even though I was forced to step away from the sport over ten years ago. I think sport in general is a great teacher, but rugby in particular, both on and off the field. If I were to detail everything I’ve learnt from the sport here then this would be the longest issue of any magazine published in the last ten years; but exposure to the combination of respect, discipline, taxing physicality, comradery, nuanced and subtle problem solving amongst violent (and often painful) chaos, healthy hardship and the need to just ‘get up and go again’, from such a young age has shaped my approach to life today. It's very rare that I come across an issue in life more immediately stressful than having an angry 120kg Samoan man running at me full tilt, with the sole intention of putting me on my arse. And the solution to this, although very clear, is not one that many would find massively appealing. That in particular has been a helpful lesson of late. Tackling problems head on (pardon the pun) is always the best course of action, and is also rarely as painful as you’d expect. Grit your teeth and get on with it.
Any special activities you’ve taken on as an adult?
I started doing stand-up comedy a few years ago and I’ve become completely obsessed with it. I grew up watching comedy with my dad as he was a writer and producer for some major players in the TV comedy show space (one of his BAFTA trophies is in my bathroom), so it was only a matter of time before I began writing and performing myself. I love it for so many reasons. The brutality of it is amazing: something is either funny, or it's not. There’s also a subtlety to it, you can take a joke from terrible to hilarious just by changing one or two words, or the pacing, or the intonation. The feeling of making a room full of strangers belly laugh with material that I’ve written and performed myself is my favourite thing in the world. And when a joke doesn’t land, it becomes a problem solving exercise. What can I change about the wording, the delivery, the structure of the joke? It keeps my brain working in a fun way off stage as well. I get ideas from absolutely anywhere. It could be a conversation I am in or overhear, something I see at an airport or while driving, or something might simply hit my brain out of nowhere that I’ll think is a good premise for a joke. Lastly, the only true way of practicing is by actually getting on stage and performing. You can say your material in the mirror over and over, imagining laughs where you’ve planned them to be, but until you get under the spotlight and present what you think is funny to an audience of strangers, you don’t truly know if you’ve solved the puzzle.
How did you fall into the fashion space?
When asked ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ I rarely had a clear answer. In my late teens my scope somewhat narrowed to a career as a rugby player, but once I was forced to give up the game that I love through injury (7 concussions in 2 years is enough to make any developing brain reconsider its path) I was left wondering again. The one thing I did know was that whatever I ended up doing, I wanted to be doing it for myself. I did not want to be employed. Shortly after stopping rugby I was approached by the parents of a child that I went to primary school with, asking me to come into the agency that I am currently signed with to have some photos taken. After two test shoots and a magazine editorial, they decided that I wasn’t a good fit for their agency, which was a disappointment at the time. It had, however, left me with something of a portfolio which I could take to other agencies with a view to getting signed there. I’d enjoyed my few days working as a model, although making the move from one of the most testosterone fueled environments possible (the rugby world) to essentially prancing around in my underwear for a living, in the space of two weeks was a major shock to the system. I recognised that this was something I could turn into a full time career, and that also checked the box I had of working entirely for myself. So I took my photos to another agency in London who signed me on the spot and became my representatioon in modelling for the first five years of my career.
When did you realise you wanted to make a professional career out of it?
Modelling ticked the boxes of what I wanted in a career. Self-employment, competition, exploration, freedom, and most of all: not having to sit at a desk for 10hrs a day. I enjoyed it from the start. I am fascinated by people, and it became very clear from the off that this industry houses just about every extreme of every personality type you can think of. That's an arena I wanted to be operating in.
Ted wears blazer by MICHAEL KORS, shirt by RANDOM IDENTITIES by Stefano Pilati, and pants by N21
Could you unpack any minor or major downturn you encountered?
Well, my dad killed himself when he was sixteen, which wasn’t that cool. Obviously at the time, and for a long time afterwards, life was rough. That might be the strangest age to lose your father as a boy because you’re starting to become a man, and learn what it means to be one, and the main teacher and role model for me would have been my father. Now, I wouldn’t say that going through that was a positive in many ways, but it has left me with a few things. Firstly, perspective. When you’ve had to deal with the news that your father has died suddenly, it makes things like exam stress or break-ups feel like an absolute cakewalk. It taught me the importance of setting a good example for those who look up to you. My younger brother was only thirteen when we lost our father, and with my older brother away at university, I had to take up a semi-paternal role in his life. I found the best course of action was just to lead by example, something I’d also learned from captaining various rugby teams over the years. I honestly believe that everyone will learn the same lessons over the course of their lives. Everyone will lose a loved one at some point, and learn the lessons that come with that level of grief. It's just that some people are forced to learn them earlier than others.
Have you had any mentors who supported and guided you throughout the years?
Oftentimes, being a model is marked by an emotionally-wrenching component that takes a toll on mental health: having the perfect body, meeting the highest standards and, lest we forget, being at one’s best at any given time.
Have you had any moments of self-doubt, when you felt like abandoning your career or felt belittled in some capacity?
Honestly, I feel like this industry gets a bad wrap from those who aren’t involved. I think fashion is seen to normalise Devil Wears Prada levels of sass and bitchiness, when in reality that could not be further from my experience. I think self-doubt would come up whatever I chose to do, and I don’t see it as a bad thing. We set standards for ourselves and it's important to strive to meet those standards. I see self-doubt as a good sign that those self-imposed standards are set at a good level. I love exercise, so the ‘perfect body’ goal is one I’d be striving for anyway, and having been training for 15 years now, I’ve been able to get as close to that as I need in a way that doesn’t feel restrictive at all. Being on one's best form at any given time is a skill everyone should be trying to grasp. I don’t think there’s a facet of life where that isn’t useful!
How have you managed to stay afloat, in such a frantic industry?
I’ve learnt that success in this industry is just as much about who you are as a person as how you look on camera. At the end of the day you can be the most photogenic person on the planet but if you’re a nightmare to work with, you’re not going to get booked, or at least you’re going to struggle to get repeat clients. Modesty, and respect for the professional creative process as a whole are so important. Just because, as a model, you’re the one on camera, you’re the one appearing in the final product, you’re hilariously referred to as the ‘talent’ on set, you have someone fixing your hair for you, at the end of the day you’re just another cog in the creative machine. So thinking you’re the most important is going to get you nowhere. It's a team game, played for the team.
You’re also very into traveling! Name your top three places you’ve visited and that took your breath away.
Australia, specifically Sydney, where I spent the first five months of this year. Sydney has everything. The Australian lifestyle is one that I’ve fallen in love with. In the UK, most of us get up, go to work, then head straight back home. That’s not the case over there; people are up for sunrise, and have more often than not spent an hour or two doing something before work, whether it's going down the beach, running, walking. Work becomes just one part of your day over there, not the main event! I arrived on December 2nd 2025 and was only meant to be there for 6 weeks. I stayed for 6 months, and really the only reason I came home is that I’d promised my mum that I wouldn’t miss her 60th birthday. Secondly, Los Angeles. I couldn’t quite believe just how much I loved going to LA for the first time. Having grown up in the countryside I need to be around nature, so the thought of such a booming ‘bright lights’ type of city wasn’t hugely appealing to me going in. I’ve worked in more than 20 different countries and visited nearly 40, but America, and particularly LA was the first place that I got to and thought ‘I could see myself living here for a while’. Which was surprising considering how very different it is to Oxford. The energy there is crazy, there’s so much going on, it almost feels like you’re walking around in a video game. Lastly, Mexico. I spent two weeks there with my two brothers in 2021. It was a rare trip abroad where it had nothing to do with work. The food, the people, the scenery are all incredible. I loved it so much that I actually went back on my own two weeks later.
How do you cope with rejections?
Honestly, having been working full time as a model for 10 years now, I’ve been rejected so many times for jobs that emotionally it barely moves the needle now. I never saw rejection as losing, or as failure, it's just a sign that something about what I offer isn’t in line with what that particular client wants at that time. You’ve just got to crack on.
Ted wears blazer, pants, and ties by DSQUARED2, shorts by MSGM, and shoes by BEPOSITIVE
Ted wears knits by MICHAEL KORS and EXTREME CASHMERE, shirt by CANALI, pants by DURAZZI, and shoes by CHURCH'S
Ted wears blazer and pants by SETCHU, shirt by LABO.ART, shoes by CHURCH'S, and ties by LORO PIANA and BRUNELLO CUCINELLI
photography
ANTONIO CROTTI
fashion market director + stylist CHIDOZIE OBASI
contributing fashion editor EDWARD PUSCA
head of production JESSICA LOVATO
fashion coordinator ALBERTO MICHISANTI
make up DIANA DJURDJEVSKI via STUDIO REPOSSI
hair FUJIWARA TAKAHASHI
model TED PULLIN via STORM MODELS
fashion assistants SIMONA VERNAZZA + DAIANA EDOSA + SALMA + ZEYNEP PEHLIVANOGLU
fashion market director + stylist CHIDOZIE OBASI
contributing fashion editor EDWARD PUSCA
head of production JESSICA LOVATO
fashion coordinator ALBERTO MICHISANTI
make up DIANA DJURDJEVSKI via STUDIO REPOSSI
hair FUJIWARA TAKAHASHI
model TED PULLIN via STORM MODELS
fashion assistants SIMONA VERNAZZA + DAIANA EDOSA + SALMA + ZEYNEP PEHLIVANOGLU
credits
all Images (c) LE MILE
and Antonio Crotti