Billy Porter, the Emmy-winning star of Pose, has expressed his displeasure with Harry Styles’ historic Vogue cover, in which the singer wore a Gucci dress. Porter said that he felt Styles was “using” his community to “elevate” himself, and that he did not have to “sacrifice anything” to break gender norms in fashion.
Porter, who is known for his gender-fluid style and has worn dresses to various red carpet events, told The Telegraph that he had a conversation with Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour before Styles’ cover came out in December 2020. He said that Wintour asked him how the magazine could “do better” in terms of representing the “de-gendering of fashion movement”.
Porter said that he was “taken off guard” by the question and did not say what he should have said, which was to “use your power as Vogue to uplift the voices of the leaders of this movement”. He added that six months later, he saw Styles on the cover of Vogue, wearing a dress.
“It doesn’t feel good to me. You’re using my community — or your people are using my community — to elevate you. You haven’t had to sacrifice anything,” Porter said of Styles.
Harry Styles defended his Vogue cover as an expression of creativity
Harry Styles, who became the first solo male to grace the cover of Vogue in its 127-year history, defended his choice of wearing a dress as an expression of creativity and freedom. He said that he enjoyed playing with clothes and did not see them as having any gender.
“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,” Styles told Vogue. “When you take away ‘There’s clothes for men and there’s clothes for women,’ once you remove any barriers, obviously you open up the arena in which you can play.”
Styles also said that he admired artists who pushed boundaries and challenged expectations, such as David Bowie, Prince, Freddie Mercury, Elton John, and Kurt Cobain. He said that he wanted to make music that felt authentic to him and did not care about being labeled or criticized.
“I think if you get something that you feel amazing in, it’s like a superhero outfit. Clothes are there to have fun with and experiment with and play with,” Styles said.
Billy Porter apologized to Harry Styles for his previous comments
Billy Porter has previously spoken out against Harry Styles’ Vogue cover, saying that he felt it was not a genuine representation of the gender-fluid fashion movement. He said that he was the one who “created the conversation” and yet Vogue chose a “straight white man” to be on their cover.
“I’m not dragging Harry Styles, but he is the one you’re going to try and use to represent this new conversation? He doesn’t care. He’s just doing it because it’s the thing to do,” Porter told The Sunday Times in October 2021.
However, Porter later apologized to Styles for having his name in his mouth. He said that he did not mean any harm and that he was a fan of Styles. He also clarified that his issue was not with Styles personally, but with the system that privileged him over others.
“I’m sorry, Harry. I didn’t mean no harm. I’m a gay man. We like Harry. He’s cute,” Porter said on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in November 2021.