From Arsenal to Armani: The dual journey of a defender who conquered the fashion runway

John Halls, former Arsenal player, once played alongside Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Dennis Bergkamp in the legendary 'Invincibles' squad. But few know that after retiring at 30 due to injury, he made another remarkable transition: becoming a model for Giorgio Armani and Dolce & Gabbana. In an exclusive conversation with GOAL, Halls shared his fascinating dual journey. Born in Islington, Halls came through Arsenal's famous Hale End academy. He made 3 first-team appearances for the Gunners before moving to 10 different clubs, experiencing all 4 tiers of English football. His career may not have been spectacular, but his transition to fashion is truly remarkable. Halls revealed he worked as a child model from ages 8-11, even appearing in a Kylie Minogue music video. However, when he signed for Arsenal, he put that aside to focus on football. It wasn't until he suffered an Achilles injury at 28 that the idea of returning to modelling began to take shape. 'When I had my Achilles injury, my sister told me to go to London and visit modelling agencies. I visited the 8 biggest ones and all said no, except the last one. They told me to come back in a year when my football contract ended,' Halls recalled. Interestingly, fate had another plan. Just 5 days after officially retiring, he coincidentally met Sarah Vickery - who remains his agent today - at Westfield shopping centre. 'She asked if I was a model. I said no, but I had visited her agency before. The next day I did a test shoot and just 6 days after retiring, I became a professional model.' Halls believes the confidence of a footballer helped him greatly in his new career. 'The confidence of a footballer, you believe you can do anything. Most footballers think they can play golf, basketball or tennis. That confidence helped me a lot.' However, not everything was easy. Halls admitted that standing in front of cameras in skimpy underwear with 20 people watching was quite scary. 'When you're in your pants and 20 people are looking at you, it's a bit scary. But luckily footballers always stay in shape, so I was always confident about my body.' On conquering major brands, Halls compared being selected for Armani campaigns to reaching the pinnacle of football. He described castings in Milan with hundreds, even thousands of models queuing outside the Giorgio Armani gates. 'When the gates opened, everyone sprinted 100 metres to get to the front of the queue. It was a real race.' After 15 years, Halls has become part of the Armani 'family'. He emphasized that loyalty in fashion is as rare as in football, and he was lucky to find a place that treats him like family. However, a model's life isn't always glamorous. Halls shared about lonely months flying alone to Paris or New York for 6 weeks to meet clients. 'I felt terribly lonely. No friends, no one to talk to. There was a time I fell into depression and had to see a psychiatrist.' On income, Halls revealed that modelling has huge disparities. 'A working model has a great life, but a non-working model doesn't have it easy. Even as a successful model, you're always two weeks away from being unemployed.' He explained different income levels: from e-com jobs (website photos) earning between £500 to £7,000, to major advertising campaigns with 12-18 month image usage contracts. Fragrance contracts are considered the 'ace card' bringing the highest income. Halls is still waiting for that big break, but given what he has achieved from Arsenal to Armani, no one can doubt he will continue conquering new goals. His story is clear proof that no dream is out of reach.