Billy Porter slams Vogue cover of 'White straight' Harry Styles: 'I was the first'
In December 2020, Harry Styles changed the course of history overnight by becoming the first man to grace the cover of Vogue IN A DRESS. The 27-year-old singer was showered with accolades and praise for his gender-neutral choice of clothing as he donned a lavender Gucci gown with a blazer. Styles has now emerged as a prominent icon and inspiration for men wearing dresses as he has attended the red carpet time and again in dresses and gowns.
However, actor Billy Porter, often considered the pioneer of the men wearing dresses, has now expressed his disappointment with Styles receiving overwhelming attention for his 2020 Vogue cover. During a recent interview with Sunday Times, Porter slammed Vogue for choosing Styles as the man on their historic cover. "I’m not necessarily convinced, and here is why: I created the conversation, and yet Vogue still put Harry Styles, a straight white man, in a dress on their cover for the first time,” Porter said. He further clarified, "I’m not dragging Harry Styles, but he is the one you’re going to try and use to represent this new conversation?”
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The 'Cinderella' actor, who is married to Adam Smith, reminded that he was the first person to introduce gender-bending fashion in the mainstream. "I changed the whole game. And that is not ego, that is just fact. I was the first one doing it and now everybody is doing it," Porter remarked. He also criticized Styles for not caring about gender bending and “just doing it because it’s the thing to do.”
Porter also opened up about his struggles as a Black, queer artist in Hollywood who wished to wear the dress of their choice to major red carpet events. "This is politics for me. This is my life. I had to fight my entire life to get to the place where I could wear a dress to the Oscars and not be gunned down." He further lashed out at Styles saying that wearing a dress and being lauded for it was much easier for the singer, because of his race and sexuality. "All he has to do is be White and straight,” Porter stated.
The Vogue cover in question, photographed by Tyler Mitchell, propelled Styles into global prominence as a gender-neutral fashion icon. For the shoot, the former One Direction vocalist wore a lace-trimmed gown with ruffles from Gucci, designed by Alessandro Michele. The cover became widely popular as Styles was hailed for breaking out of the boundaries of gender in fashion. Though he drew some flak from conservative pundits, he also largely inspired many male artists to flaunt their dresses at public events. But now it seems like the 'fairy godmother' of gender-neutral fashion himself, Billy Porter, was not quite impressed with the Harry Styles and Vogue collab.