THE REBRAND OF HARRY STYLES
BY SUSIE IANNONE PHOTO COURTESY OF © 2026 Sony Music Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. COLUMBIA and the "Walking Eye" Design are registered trademarks of Sony Music Entertainment.
From “X Factor” to rockstar, poet to lover boy, Harry Styles has adapted nearly every niche over the past decade. After the breakup of One Direction, Styles focused on his individual music career, producing four solo albums since 2017. Using this creativity, Styles now promotes himself in other areas like fashion, film, and the beauty industry.
Styles’ rebrand doesn’t just focus on his individuality post-One Direction, but it also focuses on bending societal norms like gender conformity and the spectrum of sexual orientation, and consistently vocalizing his message to spread kindness.
The brand Pleasing, launched in 2021, focuses on Styles’ quiet life and what he enjoys outside of the public eye. The brand aligns with Styles’ predominantly female fan base, and Pleasing’s products played into this in a respectful and interesting way.
The brand offers serums, balms, liners, nail polish, and even adult toys, which are being sold in collaboration with Planned Parenthood to combat current funding cuts by the federal government. His products cater to his fan base while consistently upholding his mantra to “Treat People With Kindness,” involving causes many are passionate and knowledgeable about.
Along with his openness toward femininity, Styles plays with fashion and art in a creative way — often by channeling the energy of other artists and musicians. His calm and confident persona makes him popular in virtually every form of media, including film.
After his breakout role in “Dunkirk” (2017), Styles went on to star in “Don’t Worry Darling” (2022), an Olivia Wilde film that premiered in theaters worldwide. The character played both on Styles’ mysterious demeanor while also highlighting his approachable personality in the eye of the public, a description that could also be applied to his fashion sense.
His look from the “Camp: Notes on Fashion” Met Gala in 2019 remains one of his most iconic and recognizable looks from the era, launching his partnership with Gucci that he still promotes to this day.
Later on, he defined himself with his “Fine Line” album, using bright pastels and even gracing magazine covers in an elegant dress. The pastels transformed into bright, bold colors like yellow, blue, and even embroidered sequins when he introduced his “Harry’s House” tour for his third album. On March 6 he dropped his album, “Kiss all the Time. Disco, Occasionally.”
Drawing on 2000s rock and 2010s techno, Styles beautifully blended funk, jazz, and pop together to make a well-rounded piece that speaks to his new image, relationship, and appreciated step into the public view. He talked to Apple Music about finding his love for creating and performing music again — through travel and self-care in the form of food, rest, and fun, and this radiates throughout the album.
Currently, Styles is rumored to be in a serious relationship with Zoë Kravitz. His love for beautiful women is evident in a respectful and almost divine way, both through his brands and music. An example of this is his Victoria’s Secret show, where he played “Only Angel” as the angels walked the runway. His ability to be open with his desires while remaining respectful is the core of Styles’ rebrand.
Individuality is a hard thing to conceptualize, especially when you have been part of a unit for so long. Post-One Direction, Harry Styles has been able to create a real and profitable brand in all forms of business and art. While this is obviously lucrative, his passions are clearly present in his work. Whether it be his bold fashion choices, his suggestive lyrics, or his dynamic movie characters, he is a chameleon in the media industry.
His message of kindness is continuously displayed in his actions, not only in his political messages to the public but in small, important ways. Over the summer, he travelled to Italy, photographing strangers enjoying their vacation and then later contacted and sent them the photo. A short time after, he signed up for a marathon in Berlin under a fake name and finished it in under three hours. This behavior may be seen as his rebrand, but it may also be the purest form of individual expression a person can display.
