Picture the scene: It’s 2010 and a male singer has just beaten a boyband and a female singer in The X Factor final.
What if somebody had told you then that one of the people on that stage would, in 12 years, be the one of the most famous, successful, lusted-after in the world, a pop star/movie star/cultural icon with a nail, skin and clothing line to boot?
You’d have been surprised, wouldn’t have thought Matt Cardle had it in him.
And if that somebody had clarified that they were actually talking about the curly haired one from One Direction, you almost definitely would have laughed them out of town.
That’s where we find ourselves now though. The only way Harry Styles could be any hotter at the moment is if he was physically on fire.
He’s like a magic combination of David Bowie, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robbie Williams, in a sequinned ballgown.
When One Direction split u…, sorry, “went on hiatus” in 2016, Harry signed a solo deal but Zayn or Liam were widely expected to be the real success stories from the group.
Harry’s self-titled first album showed everyone how wrong they were, topping charts here, and also in Australia, Canada, Ireland and the US.
His second Fine Line debuted at No1 in the US – with single Watermelon Sugar giving him his first US chart-topper too.
New album Harry’s House, out last week, looks set to do even better.
The first single, As It Was, became the most-streamed song in 24 hours on Spotify. Now it’s set to be the UK No1 album.
And let’s not forget Harry, the movie star.
After winning acclaim for his role in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, later this year he has two huge films coming out. There’s romantic drama My Policeman, with Emma Corrin, this autumn.
But first there’s psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling, co-starring Florence Pugh.
It was directed by LUCKY LUCKY Olivia Wilde, who he is now in a relationship with. She’s going through a messy split with the father of her two children, Ted Lasso’s Jason Sudeikis, but Harry still comes up smelling of roses.
That the fittest man on the planet, who could surely have his pick of women, has chosen a partner 10 years his senior only adds to his impressive reputation.
Then there is Harry Styles’ style. In 2020 he became the first man to ever be a US Vogue cover star on his own, not just part of a couple.
He was wearing a custom-made, lace-trimmed Gucci ballgown and a tuxedo.
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Instantly, the image became iconic – the gender-neutral dressing that was becoming his trademark captured for posterity.
In the interview, he said: “When you take away ‘There’s clothes for men and there’s clothes for women’, once you remove any barriers, obviously you open up the arena in which you can play. I’ll go in shops sometimes and I just find myself looking at the women’s clothes thinking they’re amazing.
“It’s like anything – any time you’re putting barriers up in your own life, you’re just limiting yourself.”
Such a high-profile public figure talking about this, dressing like this, breaking down tedious, tired old stereotypes, is even more important than he probably realises.
Harry Styles is every playground bully’s nightmare – he gives young people the confidence to be themselves, whatever that may be. Conformity be damned.
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