Icons of Style – Harry Styles: The Story of a Fashion Icon: 1

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Specifically, “Rebel” showcases garments and ephemera made by some of the 300 designers at the start of their careers, when they were being supported by Newgen funding – the likes of Grace Wales Bonner, JW Anderson, Kim Jones, Mary Katrantzou, Duro Olowu, Richard Quinn and Simone Rocha. Elsewhere, McQueen’s friend and collaborator Simon Ungless has reproduced pieces from that lost first collection, displayed alongside previously unseen photographs of Lee with his debut, voice recordings and early media coverage.

And while he may be everywhere in 2022, Styles is, at the moment, literally right in front of me, sitting in an armchair of a hotel business suite in Hamburg, Germany, on a sweaty June afternoon. After a dip in the Irish Sea this morning, he flew into town and is now enjoying a day off in the middle of his first European tour since 2018. Everything in my life has felt like a bonus since X-Factor. Get on TV and sing. I never expected and never thought that would happen” — Harry Styles If you make your life about the fact that you can’t go anywhere and everything has to be a big deal, then that’s what your life becomes,” he says. “Now, in London, I walk everywhere. It’s hard to stumble across things and restaurants and places and stuff if you’re just driving everywhere, and it’s just not that fun.” Now, besides the unavoidable singles and the victory-lap world tour, there are other indicators of next-level stardom: his skincare, nail polish and clothing line called Pleasing and a fashion collection with Gucci, not to mention his flourishing movie career. He’s starring in the psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling and in the intimate drama My Policeman, and he’s nabbed a deal with Marvel Studios to play Eros in at least one of the Eternals films. “Everything in my life has felt like a bonus since X-Factor,” he says, referring to the singing competition that led directly to One Direction. “Get on TV and sing. I never expected and never thought that would happen.”Other than that, acting wasn’t really part of his life plan. He liked it, but he found a new rush when he started performing with his band White Eskimo. When they debuted at — and won — a Battle of the Bands competition, it was the first time he felt “the switch”: his teachers looking up at him, instead of vice versa. “I think I was just a show-off,” he says, with a hint of cheekiness. “I say that like it’s past tense.” Tank by Loewe, braces, Stylist’s Own, Trousers by Gucci Even with the boundaries he’s set between his public and private lives, sometimes “other people blur the lines for you”, he says. There’s a conversation he has to have early in a relationship, no matter how weird or premature it may feel. “Can you imagine,” he says, “going on a second date with someone and being like, ‘OK, there’s this corner of the thing, and they’re going to say this, and it’s going to be really crazy, and they’re going to be really mean, and it’s not real….But anyway, what do you want to eat?’”

When Styles played two sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium in June, the first thing he did after stepping offstage each night was take a shower. The post-show shower has become a ritual: a hygienic necessity, sure, but also a crucial moment of clarity and reflection. He washes away the screams full of love and desire to just be in his presence. Anyone would be overwhelmed by that. “It’s really unnatural to stand in front of that many people and have that experience,” he says. “Washing it off, you’re just a naked person, in your most vulnerable, human form. Just like a naked baby, basically.” My great uncle lives here,” Styles says of Hamburg. “He married a German lady, so I have a German cousin. They always used to come and visit when I was a kid, and the only word in English [the cousin] knew was ‘lemonade’. I didn’t know if she actually wanted lemonade or was trying to say ‘Give me some water, please!’”I’m going to the Harry Styles concert in LA. It’s going to be hot, and I’ll be masked, but I want something fun, and a little funky to wear. I’m androgynous and dress for comfort, but enjoy a vintage flair. Not interested in looking like a banker, a country club boy, or anything in that vicinity. Fun, funky, cool (temperature), and different. Excite me. Thank you.” Using London itself as a framework, the show examines why these creatives chose the city, and why particular spaces inspired them (the city’s club culture is pored over in particular, with old posters and video footage highlighting the tight relationship with young designers like Martine Rose, Charles Jeffrey’s LOVERBOY label, and Nasir Mazhar).

Pre-pandemic talks between Styles and the Darling team didn’t make it far; he was, after all, due on a global tour for most of 2020. Instead, Shia LaBeouf won the role, but by the end of that summer, Wilde had reportedly booted the actor for poor on-set behaviour. Will be attending a Harry Styles concert on 9/18 and would love something a bit edgy. Maybe some cool patterned pants and a contrasting top.” Styles also represents a modern masculinity, in which a man can wear a Dorothy (of “The Wizard of Oz”) mini dress and still be a sex symbol. With three singles from the 2022 "Harry's House" and a fourth song, heis the first British solo artist to have four top 10 hits in the US charts, a feat last accomplished by The Beatlesin 1964, according to German magazine Musikexpress .

A gender-fluid style

He’s found a vague balance through compartmentalisation. “I’ve never talked about my life away from work publicly and found that it’s benefited me positively,” he explains, perhaps preemptively. “There’s always going to be a version of a narrative, and I think I just decided I wasn’t going to spend the time trying to correct it or redirect it in some way.” Hi! For this next Fix, could you send some pieces that you could picture Harry Styles wearing? I’m trying to branch out into more colorful pallets and try new patterns and textures. Thank you so much!!” On past tours, he says, “I was getting to a lot of cities and feeling like ‘I’ve been here six times and I’ve never seen any of it.’” This tour, he’s been taking in a lot of architecture. “It’s something I can do on my own, just sit somewhere and look at stuff,” he says. Styles has a gift for making those in his presence feel seen. Just ask fans who bump into him on walks through Central Park or Hampstead Heath, then detail those moments as if they had met the pope (granted, the pope could never pull off a hair claw). Harry Styles is friends with Gucci's former creative director Alessandro Michele. Just before Michele left Gucci in November 2022, they presented a collection entitled "Gucci HA HA HA."

Before the second half of the concert at the Elphi, the crowd mingles and grabs drinks. As we walk through, Styles goes unnoticed. (The mask helps.) It’s funny to watch one of the world’s biggest pop stars move through space with such ease, as if he’s blissfully unaware of how well-known he is.

The former One Direction band member is also known for his eye-catching outfits. He doesn't shy away from the occasional feather boa, glittery belt or shiny pink pants on stage either. Styles arriviving at the 2023 Grammy Awards Image: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP Photo/picture alliance A gender-fluidstyle We walk out before the crowd fully disperses. Styles lingers a second to take some photos of the room before he heads out to get ready for his concert, where he’ll bounce around the stage, lifted by the wails of young fans who have been waiting years for this moment. Studying the finer points of buildings fits the regimented, disciplined and distinctly grown-up tour life he’s created. Styles has found himself enamoured with routine on the road: 10 hours of sleep a night, IV injections pumping him with nutrients and vitamins, a strict acid-reflux-conscious diet that cuts out coffee, alcohol and certain foods that affect the throat 50,000 fans are depending on. Last night, he slept with two humidifiers that apparently made it look like he was stepping out of a steam room when he opened his hotel room door. Between them, Billie Eilish and Harry Styles clearly appear to have dominated the fashion limelight this year. And their taste for gender-fluid looks no doubt has something to do with that. Both stars have clearly distinguished themselves with their willingness to break codes and stereotypes, reflecting broader changes underway in society. And while neither star is giving up traditionally masculine or feminine clothes altogether, they both play with fashion however they like, dressing according to their personality, their whims and their fancies, rather than following any fashion diktats.