On Friday, Vogue announced that pop superstar Harry Styles will be the cover star of December’s American Vogue issue. This makes him the first ever male cover star of Vogue. Not only was it the history he made that sparked conversation, it was his choice of fashion as well. Styles rocked a custom made blue and black dress on the cover, and in other photos wore different patterned skirts that were featured throughout the magazine. This sparked a lot of controversy from prominent conservatives.

This photoshoot showed a growing exploration of gender-fluidity, which has become very popular among Gen Z. Styles received a lot of praise and support from people all over the internet, but was also faced with major backlash. One conservative author, Candace Owens, replied to Vogues announcement on twitter by saying, “Bring back manly men”. Though Styles has yet to respond to these harsh comments, many other celebrities have come for his defense. The director on Styles’ upcoming movie, Olivia Wilde, responded to Owens, saying “You’re pathetic.” Another actress, Jameela Jamil, tweeted out in response, “Manly is whatever you want it to be.”

Photo courtesy of: Vogue

Feature photo courtesy of: Vogue