Sign of the Times - what a decade it's been for Harry Styles

A decade after stepping on to that stage in Manchester, Harry Styles’ star has certainly ascended.

From teenage pop star to credible solo artist, via Hollywood actor to fashion icon, his career trajectory to date has seen him eschew the crash and burn boyband stereotype and embrace inclusiveness and activism, leading to some interesting and discussion-provoking creative moments.

And while 2020 hasn’t been the best year for a lot of people, it’s certainly a career-defining one for Harry, who's not only scooped a clutch of awards and titles for his latest solo work but who also became the first man to grace the cover of fashion bible Vogue.

We take a quick look at just some of the things that the Watermelon Sugar-man’s been up to in the past 10 years.

The X Factor

At the tender age of 16, Harry may not have won over Louis Walsh, but Nicole Scherzinger, Simon Cowell and the audience at his Manchester audition loved his rendition of Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely?

At the time, the teenager had just finished his GCSEs, was a Saturday boy at W. Mandeville Bakery in Holmes Chapel and was planning to go to college and study law, sociology and business.

Despite being eliminated early on in the contest, he was brought back to join the boy band One Direction. The rest, as they say, is history.

The boy band years

For the next five years, Harry recorded and toured with his 1D bandmates Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan, becoming one of the most successful boybands of all time.

The youngest of the group, Harry became a firm fan favourite, in no small part due to his wide grin and sweet but cheeky demeanour, and fan hysteria reached peak Beatles levels.

Their five albums, Up All Night, Take Me Home, Midnight Memories, Four, and Made in the AM topped charts across the world and spawned hit singles including their first UK number one, What Makes You Beautiful – featuring Harry on lead vocals – plus Live While We're Young, Best Song Ever, Story of My Life, and Drag Me Down.

Their five-year reign saw them rack up scores of industry awards, bust box office records with their documentary One Direction: This Is Us, and sell-out world tours – they even performed at the 2012 Olympics closing ceremony.

After Zayn Malik announced his departure in 2015, the band continued as a four-piece for a while, before announcing a hiatus which gave Harry the chance to focus on his solo and acting career.

Relationships

Much like the Spice Girls all had alter-egos back in the 90s, Harry became known as ‘the flirty one’ of 1D and has been linked to several high profile models and performers over the past decade.

During the early One Direction years, Harry dated The X Factor presenter Caroline Flack and he was said to have taken the late star to The George and Dragon in Great Budworth, where he was also spotted by Guardian readers with another high-profile partner, Taylor Swift, back in 2012.

Going solo

Having shown a flair for writing during the 1D years – he co-penned Just a Little Bit of Your Heart for Ariana Grande – Harry co-wrote and released his debut eponymous solo album in 2017, which included the UK and US number-one single Sign of the Times.

This saw a departure from the perky pop of 1D, with critics pointing to its glam rock influences, something that also started filtering through in Harry’s image too.

This year Harry Styles has been at the forefront of the Top 100 charts, as his single Watermelon Sugar made its way to the number one spot in August, after first being released in May, and his second solo album, Fine Line, is up for the Best Pop Vocal Album gong, while Adore You has been nominated for Best Pop Video and Watermelon Sugar is listed for Best Solo Performance at the 2021 Grammy Awards.

Acting roles

High school roles aside, Harry made his acting debut in Oscar-winning director Christopher Nolan’s 2017 war film, Dunkirk, an ensemble piece which portrays the historic evacuation from land, sea and air, and stars acting heavyweights such as Kenneth Brannagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance and Tom Hardy.

In the film, Harry played a British soldier called Alex and was  met with positive reviews for his performance.

Last year, he was rumoured to be in talks for the role of Prince Eric in Disney’s live-action version of The Little Mermaid, a role which didn’t come off for him in the end.

However, he's returning to the silver screen in the upcoming psychological thriller film Don't Worry Darling, where he’s playing Jack, a character originally earmarked for Shia LaBoeuf.

Harry’s style

Over the years, Harry’s look has progressed from blend-in to stand out, and in the past few years, he’s showcased some increasingly interesting and experimental looks which have won over the music and fashion world. He was even dubbed the Patron Saint of Menswear by Esquire magazine.

At the 2019 Met Gala, he stepped out in gleaming heeled boots, a sheer Gucci blouse and a single pearl earring reflecting the hallowed annual event’s theme of Camp: Notes on Fashion.

At February’s Brit Awards he sported three flamboyant and talked about looks: a sweater vest, flares, Mary Jane shoes and a pearl necklace on the red carpet; a lace Gucci jumpsuit with matching gloves while performing; and a canary yellow suit purple neck scarf while in the audience at the ceremony.

And last month, Harry made fashion history by becoming the first solo man to appear as the cover star on the front of style bible, Vogue, where he was photographed for the cover wearing a lace-trimmed Gucci ballgown, teamed with a tuxedo, and a pull quote proclaiming “anytime you’re putting up barriers in your life, you’re limiting yourself.”