Timothée Chalamet makes history as British Vogue’s first solo male cover star

Timothée Chalamet has a new accolade for his CV: first man to appear solo on the print cover of British Vogue in its 106-year-history.

Chalamet, who has long been admired for his style and fashion-forward red carpet looks, was photographed for the magazine’s October issue. He has worn a harness, a so-called shirtless suit and, last week at the Venice film festival, he wore a backless halterneck top that quickly went viral.

Speaking to Vogue in a video, he describes becoming the first man to appear on the magazine’s cover as “extraordinary. And weird. And just an honour”.

Writing in his editor’s letter, Vogue’s editor-in-chief, Edward Enninful, said the choice of Chalamet was partly his “feverishly followed fashion persona, a style so innate and self-assured that it inspires women and men alike. From shimmering genderless suiting to his daily wardrobe of vintage T-shirts and easy denim, he doesn’t like to label himself whether he’s off to a concert or caught in the glare of a thousand flashbulbs”.

The Vogue shoot, photographed by Steven Meisel, shows Chalamet’s willingness to experiment with fashion. He wears a pearl choker on the cover, and other photographs show him in a pink wig, and wearing leather trousers.

While the actor is the first man to appear solo on the cover of British Vogue’s print edition, there are precedents in the magazine’s history. Harry Styles was the first man on the cover of American Vogue in 2020, while – as Twitter has been keen to point out – Styles’ former bandmate Zayn Malik was actually the first man for British Vogue, appearing on a digital cover in 2018.

There have also been men accompanying women on British Vogue’s cover – ranging from Manolo Blahnik with Anjelica Huston in 1974 to a bare-bottomed Robbie Williams with Giselle in 2000 and Marcus Rashford with Adwoa Aboah in 2020. As Enninful writes, actor Helmut Berger was the first, photographed with Marisa Berenson by David Bailey in 1970.