Harry Styles Makes History as the First Man to Appear Solo on the Cover of ‘Vogue’: What We Learned

Credit: Tyler Mitchell/Vogue

Harry Styles Makes History as the First Man to Appear Solo on the Cover of ‘Vogue’: What We Learned

Hearing from Harry! Harry Styles opened up about One Direction, fashion and music in his Vogue cover story, published on Friday, November 13. The 26-year-old “Golden” singer made history as the first man to appear solo on the cover of the fashion magazine. Styles, no stranger to a fashion risk, told the outlet that he’s “liked fancy dress” since he was a kid. “I was really young, and I wore tights for [a school play],” he recalled. “I remember it was crazy to me that I was wearing a pair of tights. And that was maybe where it all kicked off!” Styles rose to fame after his mom convinced him to try out for X Factor in 2010. Simon Cowell subsequently placed him in a group with Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik. “I went to the audition to find out if I could sing,” he said. “Or if my mum was just being nice to me.” Fast-forward to 2015 and the group announced a hiatus after five studio albums and several sold-out tours. While Styles has gone on to find success as a solo artist and actor, he was forced to hit pause in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. The musician moved in with two of his band members and friends to quarantine amid the Los Angeles lockdown. [jwplayer hYgjlgX7-l3ahXupL] “[Mitch Rowland and Sarah Jones and I] would put names in a hat and plan the week out,” Styles said. “If you were Monday, you would choose the movie, dinner and the activity for that day. I like to make soups, and there was a big array of movies; we went all over the board.” Styles called 2020 “a really good lesson in what makes me happy now.” He explained: "It’s such a good example of living in the moment. I honestly just like being around my friends. That’s been my biggest takeaway. Just being on my own the whole time, I would have been miserable.” Styles added that this year has been a “time for opening up and learning and listening,” citing the Black Lives Matter movement as an example. “I’ve been trying to read and educate myself so that in 20 years I’m still doing the right things and taking the right steps,” he said. “I believe in karma, and I think it’s just a time right now where we could use a little more kindness and empathy and patience with people, be a little more prepared to listen and grow.” Scroll through for the biggest takeaways from Styles’ cover story:

Credit: Tyler Mitchell/Vogue

On Relationships

“When it comes to relationships, you just expect yourself to be good at it …[but] being in a real relationship with someone is a skill,” Styles told Vogue, who said he is “too much of a gentleman to name names.”

The musician has been romantically linked to Taylor Swift, Kendall Jenner and Camille Rowe.

Credit: Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock

All Love for 1D

“I think the typical thing is to come out of a band like that and almost feel like you have to apologize for being in it,” he said. “But I loved my time in it. It was all new to me, and I was trying to learn as much as I could. I wanted to soak it in … I think that’s probably why I like traveling now—soaking stuff up.”

Credit: Tyler Mitchell/Vogue

Inner Peace

Styles told the magazine that he does Pilates twice a day — “I’ve got very tight hamstrings, trying to get those open” — and he meditates.

He explained, “Meditation just brings a stillness that has been really beneficial, I think, for my mental health.”

Credit: Tyler Mitchell/Vogue

His Style

“The people that I looked up to in music — Prince and David Bowie and Elvis and Freddie Mercury and Elton John — they’re such showmen. As a kid, it was completely mindblowing. Now I’ll put on something that feels really flamboyant, and I don’t feel crazy wearing it,” he said. “I think if you get something that you feel amazing in, it’s like a superhero outfit. 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. 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—anytime you’re putting barriers up in your own life, you’re just limiting yourself. There’s so much joy to be had in playing with clothes.”

Credit: David Fisher/Shutterstock

Finding His Sound

Styles, who noted he wants to tour as soon “it’s safe for everyone,” called his fans “incredibly generous” people. He also explained the differences between his 2017 album, Harry Styles, and 2019’s Fine Line.

“I was very much finding out what my sound was as a solo artist,” he said. “I can see all the places where it almost felt like I was bowling with the bumpers up. I think with the second album I let go of the fear of getting it wrong and …it was really joyous and really free. I think with music it’s so important to evolve—and that extends to clothes and videos and all that stuff. That’s why you look back at David Bowie with Ziggy Stardust or the Beatles and their different eras — that fearlessness is super inspiring.”

Credit: Tyler Mitchell/Vogue

Living in London vs L.A. … and Tokyo?

In the height of One Direction’s fame, Styles bought a home in London. While he planned to do two weeks' worth of work on the place, the renovation took 18 months.

“I’ve always seen that period as pretty pivotal for me, as there’s that moment at the party where it’s getting late, and half of the people would go upstairs to do drugs, and the other people go home,” he recalled. “I was like, ‘I don’t really know this friend’s wife, so I’m not going to get all messy and then go home.’ I had to behave a bit, at a time where everything else about my life felt I didn’t have to behave really. I’ve been lucky to always feel I have this family unit somewhere.”

He added, “[When the renovation was done] I went in for the first time and I cried. Because I just felt like I had somewhere. L.A. feels like holiday, but this feels like home.”

While he calls London home, he is considering a move to Tokyo post-COVID. “There’s a respect and a stillness, a quietness that I really loved every time I’ve been there,” he told Vogue.