Clearly far, far away from his boyband days of yore, Harry Styles has fully come into his own as a young man with a distinct sense of style.The once-upon-a-time unofficial poster child for Gucci, he officially signs up as the face of this season’s tailoring campaign that has us wanting to hop on a plane to Northern England and cradle chickens. Yes, chickens.
Look, Harry Styles is a stylish young man. Very, if we may say so ourselves. Boasting of an impressive post-boyband look, he has successfully skidded past the exhausted grungy, nonchalant threads that his contemporaries have gravitated towards. Instead, the Signs of the Times singer has cultivated a penchant for a 70s rockstar vibe that is a reminiscent mix of Mick Jagger and Elton John. It is pretty impressive, especially of a man of his generation, but hey, aren’t we all harking back to decades gone by? He just manages to pull it off well.
This favoring of a more romantic, decorated and full of flair type of menswear is atypical, but seriously of-the-moment. And out of every brand that has dipped their hands in the pool of quirky, off-kilter fashion, one house not only does it impeccably and effortlessly well, it practically jumpstarted the affinity for the odd.
The renaissance of Gucci under the baton of Alessandro Michele has not only earned the hard-to-please nod of the serious fashion folk, but it also has invigorated a generation with an appreciation for what isn’t the usual and strait-laced. One of the many loyal fans of the new age of Gucci is Harry Styles. Not only has he rocked the luxury brand’s wares on occasion and sported them in a music video (see: Kiwi), but he has also enlisted them to deck him out for his sold-out world tour in custom, one-of-a-kind looks.
Needless to say, he is the perfect embodiment of the Gucci ideals. So, what else could be next? Well, a campaign, of course.
Shot by Glen Luchford and art directed by Christopher Simmonds in Northern London in a visual tale depicting definitive British cues, Harry Styles lingers in various milieus in and around a local fish and chip shop. How very Brit, of course. Clad in a selection of Fall/Winter ’18-’19 tailored pieces, such as a classic three-piece suit with a green heritage retro check wrap draped around his shoulders, a New Marseille jacket with embroidery photographed with a chicken cradled in his arms, as well as a navy blue pinstriped set paired with a checkered overcoat in complementing tones.
“In a narrative sequence that echoes many famous photographs and scenes from British films, @harrystyles brings his pet chicken and dog into the fish and chip shop. He orders and shares it with the animals,” writes the caption on the official Gucci Instagram page. Effortless, but clearly depicting the sign of the times, the campaign is true to the brand’s form: memorable. Oh, and Harry Styles? Well, he takes the visuals and dusts it with his undeniable charm.
