Seven years ago they were still in school, still sleeping in their mum’s houses and buying clothes with their pocket money. But, after a heap of good luck, a spoonful of talent and some carefully constructed branding, One Direction are now worth more than the Beatles. Collectively they’ve banked a knee-buckling £262 million – that’s around £50mill each FYI. As Harry Styles showed last week with the release of his first solo single, the fever pitch surrounding these boys is still deafening.
Though Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Harry now have distinct personal styles and sounds it didn’t start that way. When they first met on* The X Factor* all those years ago they were just five boys with newly broken voices and a heck of a lot of Topman in their wardrobes. After years of boybands like Take That and N*Sync mastering the art of dressing similar, yet slyly ensuring their fans knew who was the 'cute' one, who was the 'bad boy' and which was the 'cheeky' one, 1D’s management turned their talents on these five unassuming bandmates. At peak, they were spending over £46,000 per year (!) on personal styling because it cost a lot for them to look this nonchalant. Here’s their journey from barely legal to millionaires, one image marketing decision at a time…
Riding The Justin Bieber Hair Wave
The Biebs was top of his game in 2010 even if his voice was yet to officially drop, so what’s a hopeful boy band to do but copy him? Hence, the uniformed side sweep.
Dress Code Applied
While the boys still try and figure out who was the ‘babe’ and who was the ‘brains’ they created a uniform so no single bandmate would stand out.
Harry Has At Least Figured Out His Role
Suited and booted, Harry assumed his role as the group’s 'ladiez man'. Zayn showed he was a tortured artist in his illustrated t-shirt and wrinkled leather jacket, while Liam, Louis and Niall are still figuring out how this posing for the camera thing worked.
USP Found
Finally, the boys have found their personalities. Harry, charms like a boarding school boy let loose for the weekend with a popped collar Ralph Lauren polo and dangerously-low jeans. Niall nails the cheeky grin, Zayn’s artistic flair shines yet again in another illustrated tee (is there a pattern growing here?) that shows he’s in touch with his emotions, Louis solidifies himself as the one your mum warned you about with his bad boy denim jacket, while golden boy Liam wears his shirt buttoned up like the stylist told him to.
If You Dress Like Best Friends We’ll All Think You Are
Don’t they say copying is just another form of flattery? Well, if that’s the case, then these boys in their matching skinny ties, white shirts and shiny suits are obviously fawning over one another.
There Was A Khaki Memo, Just Not Everyone Read It
Harry goes renegade in a pro-tofu top, Zayn disregarded the dress code altogether, but at least Niall has figured out where the camera is.
It’s called Fashuun
Throughout his career - from his early days on stage to this picture being taken – Louis has had a thing for rolled up trousers. Don’t believe us, watch this. But, he took it to the next level at the world premiere of their film. While Louis did his thing, the others fell into character. Harry became Burberry’s little mannequin, Niall assumed the role of 'bloke you might have gone to school with', Zayn pouted like there was a Vogue Homme cover being shot and Liam tried out a banker-meets-biker look (something only GBBO's Selassi could pull off).
The Beginning Of The End
With Zayn gone, the boys symbolically stand further apart and look literally and metaphysically ahead to their solo careers. Still the navy colour and skinny jeans dress code applied, but, finally, they’ve been allowed to self-style. Harry’s developed a bob, Niall’s got a quiff and Liam’s stolen an old man’s scarf.
Harry’s Obviously Had Enough
That is the face of someone who has ticked the stylist’s ‘please wear a suit’ box, but also shat right on it. Yes, Styles has worn a suit, a shirt and smart shoes like his bandmates, but he’s also stolen his nan’s curtains to fashion them.
You Can Hardly Tell They’re Bandmates
Harry has gone full-on rockstar in his silky Saint Laurent bomber, Liam must be heading to Coachella in that fedora, Louis looks like he spent all last night partying at The Sugar Hut while Niall has really perfected the manly ombre. No longer wearing matching outfits, their independent identities are now strong enough for their solo careers to take flight.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.