Everyone loves Harry Styles, right? The Cheshire boy, who hung up his baking apron for a winning appearance in Abercrombie and Fitch attire on The X Factor in 2010, has wowed the world with his catchy modern pop and playful outfits. Styles doesn’t look like he’s having any fun, even when he’s on a Lime bike with James Corden, which is certainly an accomplishment in itself.
He grew up in the idyllic village of Holmes Chapel in Cheshire, just south of Manchester, with his older sister Gemma and parents Des Styles and Anne Twist, who divorced when he was seven. Now 30 years old, she has reached a shocking moment, a turning point for any pop star. But Styles, who lives in Hampstead, is thriving.
While his music career is impressive, his third album, Harry’s House, became the best-selling album in the UK in 2022; As It Was was streamed 2.28 billion times; The worldwide Love on Tour grossed an estimated $250 million; Perhaps it is her sense of fashion that has made her biggest cultural impact. Luckily, given his surname, this is perhaps a no-brainer.
Her gender-fluid style tapped into the zeitgeist and got TikTok’s Gen Zers looking up to their mothers. And it’s that appeal that he’s now leaning into, focusing on business opportunities beyond going viral on the red carpet.
Part Broadway market, part tribute to Abba, part Northern lad, began to solidify the modern attitude towards dressing in bright jumpsuits, feather boas, low-cut statement blouses, pearl jewellery, suits, knitwear and hoodies from the 70s. Anything goes on social media ‘as long as it’s appropriate’.
His haircuts are as scrutinized as David Beckham’s hair in the Noughties, inspiring endless debates discussing his follicular smoke signals. When he shaved his head, some of his ardent fans mourned.
Styles’ aesthetic has been honed by superstylist Harry Lambert (who calls himself Susan, Styles is Sue) since 2014. His fashion evolution has progressed from boy band’s well-planned route to solo star, from obvious rock’n’roll supremacy (Saint Laurent phase with a series of flashy Doherty-like hats) to his emergence as a more experimental champion of fashion. movements that align with menswear’s transition from streetwear to skirts for everyone.
“While he wasn’t the first pop star to break away from the binary (hint: Prince or Bowie), his experiments dovetail with a deeper generational shift in values around gender fluidity,” says Simar Soel, a forecasting analyst at The Future Laboratory. — especially for Generation Z.”
Helpfully, his rising star coincided with the luxury juggernaut that was Alessandro Michele’s maximalist Gucci tenure. Styles was the perfect foil to Michele’s enthusiasm. Their appearance together as hosts on the Met Gala’s pink carpet in 2019 (theme “Camp: Notes on Fashion”) – Styles in a sheer black ruffle blouse that now looks quite demure – cemented the singer’s position as ambassadors for the brand.
He later appeared on the cover of US Vogue’s December 2020 issue (the first solo man to do so), bringing a genderless take on dressing to middle America in a ruffled, lace-trimmed Gucci dress.
In 2022, Styles and Michele collaborated on a Gucci collection that debuted in November 2022, dating back to 1975. Michele described Styles at the time as “the most eccentric and free man in the world.”
What mattered was Styles’ influence beyond the world of high fashion, and his appeal was his all-important sense of originality; This isn’t just sartorial clickbait, it’s that every wardrobe choice is meaningful. The colorful patchwork JW Anderson cardigan Styles wore became a viral TikTok quarantine phenomenon, with fans knitting their own versions.
Anderson was so impressed with the initiative that she posted a carded knitting pattern for fans to follow. The cardigan was later acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum for its permanent collection.
But this wasn’t her only foray into zeitgeist knitwear moments. Last year, she was immortalized in a striped Molly Goddard cardigan by David Hockney, which went on display at the National Portrait Gallery.
It’s no surprise, then, that Styles is tapping into the potential of commercial fashion. She launched her gender-free lifestyle brand, Pleasing, in November 2021. Originally a nail polish collection, the project grew to also include perfume and a shortwear offering: hoodies, shorts, knitwear and, finally, a collection of “corduroy” vests and boxers in muted colours.
Pleasing is stocked exclusively at Selfridges, which hosts a Pleasing pop-up at its Corner store last year, where fans lined up outside every day for the four-week installation, as well as two existing pop-up stores in New York and Los Angeles. . Melissa McGinnis, head of beauty at Selfridges, found: “Our customers love the Pleasing product and its sense of inclusivity and fun. Styles has proven himself to be an astute brand builder, allowing Pleasing to grow with the loyal community around him.”
Styles’ approach to the brand, where he remained largely behind the scenes, was canny. Lambert and Molly Hawkins are co-creative directors, and last year they hired Pleasing’s first chief executive, Shaun Kearney, who was previously chief design and merchandising officer at Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop.
Speaking to Vogue Business, Kearney said his plan is to create a “powerful lifestyle brand” that “really impacts the conversation and really impacts people’s lives.”
Besides Pleasing, Style’s latest foray into fashion mogul territory came with an announcement in January that it had acquired a minority stake in British menswear brand SS Daley, a purveyor of cute knits and forward-thinking tailoring.
The partnership came through Lambert, who Steven Stokey-Daley contacted after posting an Instagram post calling for new design talent. It worked; For the Gold video, Lambert included Styles in the Liverpudlian designer’s perspective; this ensemble is featured in the Rebel: 30 Years of London Fashion exhibition at the Design Museum.
Professor Andrew Groves, director of menswear archives at the University of Westminster, describes the trio of Styles, Lambert and Stokey-Daley as “an interesting dynamic that allows each of them to use fashion and dress as a means of changing cultural norms”. menswear.”
As Styles approaches the next decade, perhaps it is his fashion investments that will shape his future legacy as much as the million screaming, ardent fans. The nature of teen pop stardom is that you’re there to be replaced; It only takes a cursory look at the beloved boy band members’ past to realize that everyone needs a strong financial brand extension they can fall back on when the dance routines stop.
As Ronan Keating reminds us, life is a rollercoaster and cultural oblivion is never a pretty sight.