RJ King

RJ King is an American model from St. Louis, Missouri, whose career connects the sociable world of American sportswear with the more theatrical image-making of European fashion magazines. His expressive face became a recurring subject for Steven Meisel, including two Vogue Italia covers, before his experience in front of the camera informed a business of his own.

A college freshman before modeling, RJ entered the industry after visiting a friend in New York. In a 2011 interview with Out, he recalled being encouraged to visit agencies and finding a welcome at Re:Quest. His first shoot was for i-D. At eighteen, he was taking a semester away from school and approaching fashion as a job whose possibilities were still unfolding. Asked whom he hoped to work with, he named Meisel.

That ambition soon became part of his professional history. Meisel photographed RJ with Linda Evangelista and John Pearson for one of Vogue Italia’s July 2013 covers, then cast him again for the magazine’s July 2014 cover. Their collaboration extended into advertising for Moncler Gamme Rouge, placing RJ within a tradition of fashion photography where character and atmosphere matter as much as the clothes.

American sportswear offered another setting for his easy manner. He joined Tommy Hilfiger’s fall 2013 campaign, becoming part of the label’s collegiate ensemble alongside established campaign regulars. His work for the brand developed in parallel with luxury editorials and advertising, including a fall 2016 Hogan campaign photographed by Sebastian Kim.

RJ later founded KING, an underwear and supportwear brand. Speaking to The Greatest, he traced the idea to the pause created by the Covid-19 pandemic and a desire to make something of his own. Years on set had taught him the value of collaboration and kindness, as well as the importance of fit.

Developing his own product brought a different education in fundraising and manufacturing. It also gave him a direct role in shaping the clothing, extending his relationship with fashion from interpreting someone else’s ideas to developing his own.