English-born, former boy band star, Harry Styles defines celebrity iconicity. Styles’ career development has pushed beyond the norm when placed next to his fellow colleagues. He has continuously impacted the entertainment industry in positive, progressive ways - both challenging and changing the landscape for future generations.
Styles' successes and ultimate career timeline is quite extensive. Starting out as a competitor for The X Factor in 2010, Styles caught the eyes of many, including the judges. Off the bat, they placed him alongside 4 other young males singers to form One Direction. Defined as a “pop music sensation” by many, One Direction released global hits like “Best Song Ever” and “Story of My Life”. At the end of their group career, they created 5 successful studio albums, striking the heart strings of teenage girls worldwide. The group received a total of 200 awards between 2011-2015 including four MTV Video Music Awards and seven BRIT Awards (1).
In 2017, Styles leaned into his solo career as an artist and first-time actor. Being a pivotal time in his career, Styles could finally embody his full identity - dressing more abstractly, fashion-filled, and overall just himself. Mixing both masculine and feminine pieces together, Styles became recognized as a “fashion icon”, soon appearing on the front cover of Vogue in 2020. His tours around the world were embellished with his reputable gender-fluid outfits changing the stereotypes of masculine attire for performing male artists. His impact on cultural and social expectations has continued to extinguish toxic masculinity.
In the midst of his solo career, his musical pieces were extensively different from his old pieces with his ex boyband. Being more contemporary, with elements of soft rock, pop, and even folk, his newer music created an alternative musical identity for the star. What’s most impressive about the reboot of Styles’ solo career was the immediate success of his first debut single in 2017, Sign of the Times. His next following albums including Fine Line, made as big, or some could argue, a bigger impact than One Direction on the greater musical landscape due to the intersection of genres, tones, depths, lyrics, and more.
During this same year in 2017, Styles embarked on his acting career for the first time. Contrary to his bubbly persona within the media, his participation in Christopher Nolan’s 2017 war thriller, Dunkirk, broadened his identity horizon even further beyond the average singer/songwriter. Embodying the natures and practices of an actor, unlocked another talent hidden underneath his musical exterior (3). Styles was able to entertain his audience with another form of entertainment media, making a strong presence within both film and music industries.
He furthered his acting career within more recent films like Don’t Worry Darling and My Policeman. Not only was he featured within these films, but also was the leading role within Don’t Worry Darling.
Most recently Harry has partnered with Gucci to create a custom campaign alongside Allessandro Michele. This campaign titled “HA HA HA” includes stills and videography of Harry being the main spotlight, showcasing new and vintage Gucci pieces. Focusing on matching different prints, patterns, and textures together, like gingham check suits and cherry and lamb sweaters, Styles and Michele put together their creative masterminds to establish a one-of-a-kind project to mark the progressive nature of the Gucci brand (2).
Overall, Styles has a multifaceted approach to his identity within celebrity culture. His evolution from a boyband star to a top ranked solo artist, pushing towards his spotlight in numerous films, and now his identity within the fashion industry - Styles has one of the most progressively complex and adored faces within the game. His future endeavors will continue to grow his reputation beyond the horizons, growing further into the ultimate icon within our generation.
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Harry Styles is one of the few who can successfully succeed launching a solo career after being a part of a band, especially since they started through a talent show which was already something to become successful from. Not only did he succeed as a solo artist as you described he thrived in various industries. It is interesting how you bring up the way in which he completely revamped his style and career which can be difficult to do in the music industry. He really has become one of the icons of our generations and his unique choices in his work will definitely influence others to branch outside of just one career.