Harry Styles Makes History as the First Man To Appear Solo on the Cover of Vogue

Celebs

| LAST UPDATE 06/30/2021

By Georgina White
Tyler Mitchell via Vogue

Vogue's December cover star, Harry Styles, has made history as the magazine's first man to appear solo on the cover. He used this monumental issue as an opportunity to reflect on how he's changed fashion's previous 'norms' and how he's evolved as an artist overall.

"The people that I looked up to in music - Prince and David Bowie and Elvis [Presley] and Freddie Mercury and Elton John - they're such showmen," Styles revealed. "As a kid, it was completely mind-blowing. Now I'll put on something that feels really flamboyant, and I don't feel crazy wearing it."

Harry Styles Vogue Cover
Tyler Mitchell via Vogue

"I think if you get something that you feel amazing in, it's like a superhero outfit," Harry continued. "Clothes are there to have fun with and experiment with and play with. What's really exciting is that all of these lines are just kind of crumbling away."

"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," said Styles. He explained that by ignoring fashion 'norms' and wearing what he feels best in, Harry's gained a reputation as a fashion icon for a new generation.

Harry Styles Vogue Cover
Tyler Mitchell via Vogue

"Anytime you're putting up barriers in your own life, you're just limiting yourself," he said. "There's so much joy to be had in playing with clothes." Styles compared his outlook on fashion to his journey from a member of a boy band to a successful solo artist; "I was very much finding out what my sound was as a solo artist."

Harry Styles Vogue Cover
Tyler Mitchell via Vogue

"I can see all the places where it almost felt like I was bowling with the bumpers up," revealed Styles. "I think with the second album I let go of the fear of getting it wrong and... It was really joyous and really free," said Styles. Today, the artist is thriving with his solo career and as a style icon, seeing fashion as "this extended part of creating something."