How style maverick Harry Styles is revising gendered fashion

If you've somehow missed the news, Gucci's Alessandro Michele and pop matrix Harry Styles have collaborated on a new design collection. The 25-piece series, which goes by the name “Gucci HA HA HA”, beams in bright palatable colours and eccentric motifs in an ode to fashionable expression.

The announcement came from Michele amidst men’s fashion week in Milan, a day after Mr. Style shimmied across the stage at Wembley wearing an eclectic Gucci ensemble. Taking to social media, Gucci promptly unveiled a first look at the collection, comprising “sartorial suits, treated denim-jackets, and velvet suits in irregular hues”. It doesn’t stop there. “Unexpected printed pyjamas and bowling shirts, lined coats with hoods and frog fasteners, and pleated kilts with leather regulating straps” also permeate the collection. It’s almost edible.

Related: Soulland unveils its new genderless approach to fashion

In a bid to revise the often gendered nature of fashion, the pair have handpicked tailored styles that have traditionally been associated with menswear, as well as design details that have historically been boxed as feminine, to erase the all-too restrictive nature of fashion and liberate confining codes.

"We ended up with a mix of aesthetics from 1970s pop and bohemian," Michele explains, "to revise the image of the gentleman in an overturned memory of men's tailoring". Cherries, rabbits, hearts, bananas and a grumpy teddy pair are part of the funky motif ensemble.

Beneath the seams, the collection is a symbiosis of fashion and friendship. As Michele made his debut at the helm of Gucci as creative director, Styles embarked on the first leg of his solo career. They first met in London over a cappuccino for a work-related meeting but things quickly pivoted into friendship. “He has the aura of an English rock-and-roll star—like a young Greek god with the attitude of James Dean and a little bit of Mick Jagger—but no one is sweeter. He is the image of a new era, of the way that a man can look”, Michele once told British Vogue. After frequent texting and cups of coffee, it wasn’t long before Styles became a Gucci aficionado, enlisting Michele for many of his appearances.

“HA HA HA is the serial crass of the initials of ‘Harry’ and ‘Alessandro’, and it is also the onomatopoeic sound of the written essence of an emoji, the ‘laughing face’,” Gucci explains. With an edge of humour, this is how they sign off their messages to one another. “Harry has an incredible sense of fashion”, Michele continues. “Observing his ability to combine items of clothing in a way that is out of the ordinary, compared to the required standards of taste and common sense and the homogenisation of appearance, I came to understand that the styling of a look is a generator of differences and of powers, as are his reactions to the designs I have created for him, which he has always made his own; these reactions restore me with a rush of freedom every time”.

It isn’t just a fashionable series of sartorial delights; the collection signals the already-dying notion of strictly gendered clothes and the ushering in of a permanent and unapologetic era of expression and fun. Clothes are designed with creativity, just like art, and as encouraged by Styles himself, dressing should be non-restrictive, and above all, an enjoyable pursuit. “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”, says Styles.

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Wearing many Gucci-clad ensembles, it seems that Styles' fashionable expression in the public eye is helping to normalise fluidity in the mainstream. There was the periwinkle saloon dress from Gucci’s autumn / winter 2020 collection that he wore on the cover of Vogue’s December 2020 edition, his infamous feather boa and many painted nails, and we can’t forget his funky Dorothy costume from “Harryween”. Most recently, Styles donned a sequin-encrusted jumpsuit with a deep v-neck for a Love On Tour performance. “There’s so much joy to be had in playing with clothes”, the songstress says.

His concerts quickly became a stage for stylistic expression as well as musical performance, and it wasn’t long before fans followed suit with bold outfits inspired by his songs and fashion. Think crochet co-ords, electric blue tailoring, fur-lined cowboy hats, corsets, denim ensembles and cardigans, all of which references Styles.

Speaking of their design collaboration, Michele speaks lovingly about his dear friend. “He’s intuitively attuned to the new ways of self representation. His repertoire is vast, he has an interesting idea of sexy, and he’s extremely articulate and aware in his eclectic approach”.

At a Harry Styles concert in Scandinavia, we envision a repertoire of designs from Nordic labels whose collections attempt to redefine how we approach gender in clothing. Think Hope Stockholm, Acne Studios, Imaskopi and Soulland. After exhibiting the first instalment of Soulland’s SS23 collection, creative director Silas Adler said “I love designing different silhouettes, but I don’t think it’s my job to decide or define who wears what and why”. This approach to fashion seemingly echoes what Michele and Styles live by, which manifests through their collection, and with the loud buzz surrounding the news, we enter an exciting and long overdue leg of fashion discussions.