Although it’s been almost a year since Harry Styles became the first man to be on the cover of American Vogue, some haven’t forgotten about it, including Billy Porter. Styles not only broke history in his feature with the magazine, but he did so wearing a full-length dress, symbolizing a new era of men’s fashion.
According to actor Billy Porter, he believes it should’ve been him on the cover, as he played a major role in gender-fluid fashion. According to an interview with “The Sunday Times”, Porter said “I. Personally. 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.”
If you don’t know Porter from his many appearances in well-known movies, you might recognize him as a red-carpet regular. Porter is known for flaunting gowns and eye-catching looks at big-name events like the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards.
“I feel like the fashion industry has accepted me because they have to,” he said. “I’m not necessarily convinced and here is why. I created the conversation [about non-binary fashion] and yet Vogue still put Harry Styles, a straight white man, in a dress on their cover for the first time,” Billy stated. “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. 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 now. All he has to do is be white and straight.”