For many of the world’s hottest professional athletes becoming a model after they’ve retired from their sport has become something of a natural progression.
Former rugby player Thom Evans became the new face of underwear brand, D.Hedral, former soccer players Hidetoshi Nakata and Fredrik Ljungberg both now model for Calvin Klein, former tennis player Pat Rafter became the face of Australian clothing company Bonds just four years after retiring from the court, and the list goes on and on. Another former professional tennis player that is currently on everyone’s model hot list, and one you definitely need to know about, is British model Miles Bugby.
After landing a coveted college tennis scholarship to attend school in the U.S. the UK-born stud went on to play professionally for several years. Bugby quickly gained rank on the ATP Tour’s list of world ranking professional players, and even beat the Dominican Republic’s Victor Estrella Burgos who was ranked at 43 by the ATP.
Over the course of his career he played against some of the sport’s strongest competitors including Novak Djokovic, Joe Wilfred Tsonga, Janko Tipsarevic, John McEnroe, Pat Cash, Fernando Gonzales and the Brian Brothers.
“The most memorable moment in my career was actually in college when I clinched our Mountain West Conference Championships in Albuquerque, our home town, 7-6 in the third set,” recalled Bugby.
Today Bugby has many more memorable career highlights to add to the list, but now they come from his work as a model. Immediately after stepping off the court and laying his racquet to rest, Bugby was sought out by Next Model Management, which signed him to their London branch in a heartbeat. To give you a taste of the caliber of models Bugby’s London agency represents and what this means for him, just consider Alexa Chung, who’s walked the runway for Vivienne Westwood and became the first celebrity face of Lacoste, as well as the face of DKNY, Cristiano Basso (Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Caramelo), and Emilio Flores (Ralph Lauren Polo, HOT Impetus, Stealer Magazine), all of these sought after faces are represented by Next Management London.
At 6’1 Bugby has a physique like a god and a face that in some shots appear like that of the late Fast and the Furious star, Paul Walker; but uniquely his own, Bugby’s look can’t be done justice through comparisons.
While he is unquestionably handsome, it’s his ability to transform his appearance to fit the needs of his client that has made him so successful in front of the lens.
“I will ask the client what they want and try my best to execute,” explained Bugby. “Each time it can be something different so I have to be able to act out different actions and emotions.”
Bugby has been captured through the lenses of some of the world’s leading photographers, including Roberto Rocco, who’s shot Cameron Diaz, Liv Tyler and most recently Mrs. Miami Beach 2015 Tatyana Sobolevsky, John Balsom, who shoots for GQ Magazine and Burberry, and also recently shot David Beckham and Oscar Award winner Eddie Redmayne, John Rowley, who’s shot for Barbour International and Shoen Magazine, and many more.
With blonde hair and blue eyes, model Miles Bugby’s dynamic versatility in front of the camera has allowed him to vacillate between portraying a range of looks from the super chiseled athlete and the rugged outdoorsman to the preppy yachtsman and a debonair gentleman out for a night on the town. Any fashionista who is familiar with current international trends have probably already seen Bugby’s magnetism in a slew of campaigns and magazines.
Earlier this summer Bugby was featured in The Gentleman’s Journal in an editorial spread shot in Porto Heli, Greece entitled “Til the Sun Goes Down,” which was accompanied by an epic video fashion story of Bugby featured on the magazine’s website. He was also featured in the magazine’s “After Dark My Sweet“ editorial last December, as well as Red Magazine, Hello Magazine, Bentley Magazine and Wedding Magazine. In April of this year he even made it onto the cover of the hugely popular design magazine, Wallpaper.
In addition to modeling for brands including Marc O’Polo, Pedro Del Hierro, Tesco, Mr Porter and many others, the model’s history as a successful athlete has definitely helped him land major jobs for athletics companies that include Adidas as well. With so much success already under his belt, we can bet that we will be seeing a whole lot more from model Miles Bugby for many years.
Gypsy.Rich 