Styling Harry Styles

Published on June 13, 2017, at 8:43 a.m.
by Julia Cione.

Harry Styles, musical artist, announced his solo career with the release of his first single “Sign of the Times” in April 2017. Coming from the “X-Factor” formed band One Direction that became the biggest boy band icon since The Backstreet Boys, it’s quite obvious that a solo career would be hard to establish and maintain as Styles’ own brand and style.

In a recent interview with Cameron Crowe of Rolling Stone, Styles elaborated on his self-titled debut album (released May 12, 2017) and the strategy behind branding his solo career.

The last time Styles performed was with One Direction before their announcement of their hiatus in January 2016. From then on, Styles knew he wanted to start a solo career with his own vibe to his music. He signed a record label with Columbia Records, formed a band and started writing songs. The band recorded all through 2016 in Jamaica.

Although in his interview Styles states that he doesn’t care if he has as big of a following as One Direction, it’s clear his manager at least developed a branding strategy for him. The day his single was released, he did a two-hour interview with Radio 1’s Nick Grimshaw. Immediately after his single release, he hosted “Saturday Night Live” with Jimmy Fallon, giving him exposure to an older crowd. Since then he’s performed on various talk shows.

He also will be debuting his acting career in July 2017 with the film release of “Dunkirk.” He’s promoted his album cover as well as his single with photos on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. He’s also made the announcement of his upcoming tour to the United States and abroad for 2017, which I will be buying front row tickets to see.

With the debut of his album, acting career and worldwide tour, it seems Styles wanted to burst back onto the entertainment scene as his own person. It’s clear that he has good managers and counselors behind his branding strategy.