Justin Eric Martin was scouted on the streets of New York on the last night of his first visit to the city. A Calvin Klein campaign in 2017 became an early turning point, one he later singled out when asked which booking had helped establish his career. His strong jaw and hazel eyes gave fashion a classically handsome face, with enough intensity for the runway and an easy presence in everyday menswear.

Calvin Klein continued to book him, including for its spring-summer 2019 collection and watches campaigns. European houses expanded his reach. He appeared in Versace’s spring-summer 2020 advertising and Giorgio Armani’s fall-winter 2020 campaign, alongside runway work for Bottega Veneta and Hermès. The range placed him between the physical confidence of luxury advertising and the restraint of traditional tailoring.

Editorials have given Martin room to move beyond that leading-man image. His magazine work includes British GQ and L’Officiel Hommes Italia, with a Numéro Netherlands cover photographed by JuanKr in 2023. Mango and Massimo Dutti have brought him to a wider menswear audience, making casual clothes as much a part of his career as designer fashion.

His own relationship with clothes is more relaxed. Martin has described jeans and basic T-shirts as his natural uniform, explaining that he did not grow up with a materialistic approach to dressing. In interviews, he returns to a love of nature and travel, and to the patience and discipline a modeling career demands. He has also spoken about making things since childhood, from building to baking, a practical creative streak that extends beyond being photographed.