Harry Styles has appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair and GQ. But the singer’s recent cover is the most provocative yet.
Now, on one cover of Beauty Papers, a biannual magazine based in London, the 26-year-old sits bare-chested in a pair of fishnet stockings and heeled Gucci loafers.
In a second cover, he wears a suit and lipstick, his face expertly contoured.
Inside the magazine’s Summer 2020 “Revolution” issue, Styles, shot by Danish photographer Casper Sejersens, poses in a wardrobe that includes Mary Janes, ’70s-inspired suiting, a traditional bowler hat and a showgirl’s headdress, deftly defying gender norms of dress.
Together, these looks capture “Styles’s multifaceted joy in creating new identities and personas,” the magazine wrote in a press release. “He is everything, known, unknown, famous and infamous.”
The images in the issue, which also features a creepy clown-inspired shoot by fashion photographer Tim Walker, “viscerally responds to the shrinking freedoms of our world with an explosion of individuality, creativity, diversity and unity,” according to the release.
This isn’t the first time Styles has embraced androgynous dressing. A long-time fan of traditionally feminine colors and fabrics (and accessories – who could forget his pearl earring at the 2019 Met Gala?), the One Direction band member and solo artist wore a bold yellow suit from Marc Jacobs’ Spring-Summer 2020 womenswear collection to the Brit Awards in February, and a ballerina tutu in a portrait as part of his guest hosting of Saturday Night Live last year. And in December 2019, he donned a Comme des Garçons dress in his cover shoot for The Guardian Weekend magazine.
“What women wear. What men wear. For me it’s not a question of that,” Styles told The Guardian in the accompanying interview. “If I see a nice shirt and get told, ‘But it’s for ladies.’ I think: ‘Okaaaay?’ Doesn’t make me want to wear it less though… I think the moment you feel more comfortable with yourself, it all becomes a lot easier.”
And it seems fans are responding positively to this outlook. On March 17, Beauty Papers, founded by makeup artist Maxine Leonard and brand consultant Valerie Wickes, announced on Twitter that its site had crashed due to the high number of visitors trying to order a copy of the issue. Currently, sales remain suspended as existing orders are fulfilled.